. two massive explosions hit the center of baghdad. when the dust settled, scores were dead, hundreds more wounded. tips pouring in from across the country as florida tries to figure out who killed 7-year-old somer thompson. how the family is asking the public to remember their little girl. this might look like a movie chase. how this patrol car ended up in this precarious position. this is hln's "news and views." i'm virginia cha.

at least 132 people were killed, more than 500 wounded. the bombs went off in quick succession outside two government buildings. one was iraqi justice ministry where the u.s. ambassador to the united nations briefly stopped yesterday. both are warning of a possible increase in violence as the country moves toward national elections scheduled for january. another u.s. service member was kimmed in a bombing in southern afghanistan yesterday. the military has not yet identified that service member. at least 34 members of the u.s. military have been killed there this month. this year has been d deadliest for u.s. forces in afghanistan since the war began eight years ago. happening today, a massive landslide has shut down i-40 near the tennessee/north carolina border. troopers say some of the rocks that fell were the size of a house. since early this morning traffic had to be detoured around those falling rocks. it's expected to remain closed

for at least several weeks. the rocks are said to be piled up 50 feet high. the slide itself is about 100 feet long. one woman suffered minor injuries when her jeep was hit by a falling rock. the senate's top republican says the gop is ready to do its part to help fight the swine flu. minority leader mitch mcconnell says congress is standing by behind the president's methods. >> if they need anything additionally from kong, i know we'll be happy to provide it on a totally unbiased basis. >> on friday president obama declared a national swine flu advisory. he was quick to point out this is not in response to any new developments. he says it gives the government more power to help states. it helps free up doctors by reducing the amount of paperwork they have to do deal with and that should reduce delays in treatment. even before president obama declared a national emergency, there were long lines across the country as people lined up for

the h1n1 vaccine. take a look. this is a scene in utah yesterday. demand was so great that people began lining up overnight friday. eventually workers had to turn people away because the carolli ran out. here it was the reverse. not enough people for the vaccine they had. lines were long when the health clinic in versailles opened. they were trying to flag down drivers to come o in. the people who were vaccinated say they're glad they did it. >> it didn't feel that bad. it's just like how my medicine is when they spray it. >> i believe in vaccinations and i think that this is especially one that i don't want to take the small risk of her getting the h1n1 and having -- being one of those kids that has the severe complications. >> i feel confident and so does the cdc that it is a safe

vaccine and it's effective. >> this is the best tool to prevent the infection, so i really encourage people to get the vaccine. >> even though they didn't use half of what they had, it's slated to get another shipment. environmental officials are keeping a close eye on the air around a fuel storage site that is exploded in puerto rico. toxic smoke is spewing out but the wind is keeping it wayaway from populated areas. they say anyone with breathing problems should get out of the area immediately. the blast forced 1,500 people to evacuate. only a few people were hurt in that explosion. the fbi and atf are treating the facility as a crime scene while they determine what caused the blast. they're looking at suspicious graffiti which included the words "fire" and "boom." check out this video sent to us from i-reporter.

he was flying in from dallas and shot this from the air. he said the other passengers on the flight got a little rattled as the plane got closed to the flames but he says he managed to keep his cool, enough to shoot the amazing footage. if you have pictures of videos of breaking news or cool stories from your part of the world go to cnn.com. click on the link. ooh nearly 21 years after the lockerbie earn bombing investigators are reportedly looking at new lines of inquiry. pan am 103 was blown up over scotland in 1988 killed 270 people. scottish prosecutors recently sent an e-mail to victims' relatives indicating the case is being accused again. the only man convicted was freed in august. he was sent back to india on compassionate release. the case was never formally closed and if there's reason to pursue new evidence, those steps

should be taken. a viewer of our sister network cnn has helped solve the mystery of a young woman who was found wandering the streets of new york saying she has no memory of who she is. her family is on the way from washington state to be reunited with her. now the cnn viewer from maryland identified her from this photo. police say the viewer knew she had been missing from her family since the beginning of this month. more than a thousand tips have come into florida authority whose are trying to figure out who killed 7-year-old somer thompson. they say they're following every workable lead in this case. her body was found in landfill after she vanished while walking home from school last monday. authorities say even if people in the community don't have any leads, there are still things they can do to support the family. >> the family is encouraging everyone to come with purple balloons. after the service at orange park

first baptist when the mother of somer and her family leave the service and head to the cemetery, we're going to orchestrate a balloon release. if there are members of the community who are planning on coming to the church and attending the service, if you would like to come with a purple balloon in hand, there will be volunteers at the church who are going to hold those for you during the service and help coordinate a balloon release when the family leaves the church in memory of somer. >> two events are planned today to help raise money for somer's family and for a reward fund. tonight on hln news and views nancy grace looks at what's going on with haleigh cummings' family. tensions are said to be heating up. will pressure from police plus intense scrutiny lead misty to tell all? nancy grace has the latest breaking developments at 8:00

and 10:00 p.m. eastern time right here on hln. neonazis in california accomplished a big mission. where they were and what they were doing that led to this brawl.

as you can see, a scuffle broke out when 20 neonazis were meant by 600 counter-demonstrators in riverside, california. punches starting flying when members of an activist group broke down police barriers and rusheded the neo-nazis. >> this is what you guys wanted. here's what you guys get. >> they're the antagonists. >> is this what you wanted? >> we wanted to demonstrate peacefully in america. you can see what the result is. >> this is racist. this is our community. this is america. >> riot police quickly broke things up and at least two of the counter-demonstrators were arrested. the scuffle was brief but both

hurled insults apparently for three hours. this happened at a place for day labors, many of them immigrants. the neo-nazrs said they met their goal of shutting down the site and they'll be back. police in sacramento say they can protect children just by knocking on doors. scores of officers set out yesterday to check in with more than 1,000 registered sex offenders. they ended up beating their goal by 600 and they arrested 200 offenders who were not in compliance with the terms of their registration. >> sex offenders, you know, can potentially wreak havoc with the lives of people if they reoffend. >> each one's on an individual basis. so usually prior to us getting up there and knockingen to door we look at their history and find out what they're about before we get background and go up and knock on the door. >> they wanted to be proactive. jaycee dugard was held by

registered sex offender philip garrido. he says he's upset with investigators. richard heene's attorneys say they should not have released an affidavit that says his wife confessed the whole thing was preplanned. he says the heenes haven't even seen the affidavit which was used to get a search warrant for their home. but the sheriff says releasing that kind of document is common if there is no order to keep it sealed. senior white house officials say they were closely monitoring that passenger plane that missed the airport by 150 miles, but they're not saying if president obama was alerted at the time. that wayward northwest airlines jet flew past its destination and was out of touch with air traffic controllers for more than an hour. passengers say they had no idea what was going on. the faa is investigating.

meanwhile the pilot say said he and the co-pilot did not fall asleep and they were not engaged in an argument. the data recorder is an older model and only records 30 minutes at a time. that means it only records the last 30 minutes. it's breast cancer awareness month and few things raise awareness more than an unforgettable story. lindsey took a core rangers stand against the disease before she became a statistic. robin meade has today's "breakthrough women." >> reporter: at # 3 lindsey took the extreme step of having both hef healthy breasts removed. >> i have a strong family history. when my mom was only 18, her mother and grandmother died a week apart, both from breast cancer. >> reporter: her mother was also diagnosed with breast and

ovarian cancer. >> when someone looks you in the eyes and tells you have up to an 87% lifetime risk of developing breast cancer it changes everything. i couldn't live like that. >> reporter: she chose to fight back with drastic surgery. she felt alone. was living with this very, very significant increased risk. >> reporter: so she started bright pink, a network for cancer awareness and support. through it she's helped thousands of women just like her. >> she's kind of helped me find my voice and inspired other young women to think about their bodies and do self-examination. >> there's nothing like an opportunity to pay it forward and make it different for someone else.

. senate democrats could be getting close to the 60 votes

they need that includes a public option. chuck super says many prefer a middle ground proposal. his colleague says that he thinks such a measure is what the country wants and needs. >> i've gotten a lot of pressure from progressives saying draw a line in the sand. i don't want to do that. i want to get the best bill possible. but i see that the public overwhelmingly wants a public opti option. at least 52 or 3 or 4 democratic senators have said they want a strong public option. according to tom harkin, the chairman of the committee. think that that's the best thing for our country. >> but another democrat senator bill nelson says he's against a public option, even if the states can opt out. >> well, i certainly am not excited about a public option where states would opt out or a robust, as they call it,

government-run insurance plan. i'll take the look at the ones where states could opt in. look. i'm a jeffersonian democrat. think the states can make decisions on their own about their own citizens. >> orrin hatch says the government's current problem with medicare and public aid prove a public option won't work. >> we know that medicare, for instance, was enacted in 1965. it's a public option. today it's unfunded liability. medicaid is going broke within the next ten years. we know that if the democrats get 60 votes in the senate, we're going to have a public option. it may not be called that and they may call an opt-out but i guarantee you the process will go there. why? because they're going to have in this bill that they're going to cover people of 130% -- 133% of the poverty level. and like i say, that's 33% above new york's current execdy t exp.

if that happens the states can't live with it. you're going to have a fiasco on your hands. >> lawmakers are expected to vote on the health care measure every next month. composer andrew lloyd webber is battling prostate cancer. the disease is in the early stages. he's expected to be back to work before the end of the year. the sequel to his very successle phantom of the opera, "love never dies" is scheduled to open in march. he's known for "cats, kwets "evita," and "jesus christ superstar." he's much improve bud they haven't said what happened to him. before his solo career, he was a front man from the 1980s band the smiths. we could be on the verge of finding out a lot more about iran's nuclear program. a team arrived in the country today. they're expected to inspect an

unfinished uranium facility. now, the country has one other enrichment facility. many countries in the west include the u.s. suspect that iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons sthanld it's even more suspicious they kept this new fa sit under wraps for so long. but they insist it's peaceful and will be used to generate power. for years the nuclear industry has tried to brand itself as good for the vernt. they try to get republican votes to pass climate legislation. this week three senate committees will begin hearing os to sharply cut greenhouse gas emissions by factories. some republicans may come on board if they agree to back measures that would support building new nuclear reactors. nuclear plants currently provide about a fifth of the country's energy, but opponents say the reactors are a tempting target

for terrorists and there's still no solution what to do with the radioactive waste. here's one of those "what in the world" videos. a deputy's car got caught up in li lines after it got caught up. police who saw the accident say the car was hit by another car while racing to answer a call. it start grasd fire under the car. the good news is the deputy was able to get out. no one was hurt. everybody wants to save more and spend less, right? we've got the guy to help you. join quick clark howard" at 4:00 p.m. the "clark howard" show right here at 4:00 p.m. on hln. most of rod stewart's long-time fans will always consider him a aerobic but lately he's been delving into his soulful side. what he says is the secret to his success. @@@@@@@@@@

two massive explosions hit the center of baghdad. when the dust settled, scores were de. hundreds more wounded. tips pour in across the country as authorities try to figure out who killed 7-year-old somer thompson. how the family is asking the public to remember their little girl. this might look like the end of a movie car chase but it was all too real for one police officer. thanks for having us over. this is hln's "news and views." two suicide bombs ripped through

baghdad in the deadliest attack against iraqi civilians this year. at least 232 killed, more than 500 wounded. the bombs went off in quick success. one was a building where the ambassador briefly stopped yesterday. they're warning of increase in violence as the country moves toward national elections scheduled for january. another u.s. service member was killed in a bombing in southern afghanistan. they have not yet identified that service member. at least 34 members have been killed there this month. this year has been the deadliest for u.s. forces since the war began eight years ago. happening today, a massive landslide has shut down i-40 near the tennessee/north carolina border. troopers say some of the rocks that fell were the size of a house. traffic had to be detoured. the section of i-40 winds through some very rugged

terrain. it's expected to be closed for at least several weeks. the rocks are said to be pile up at least 50 feet high. one woman suffered minor injuries when her jeep was hit by a falling rock. the senate's top republican says the gop is ready to do its part to help fight the swine flu. minority leader mitch mcconnell says congress is standing behind the president's efforts. >> if they need anything additionally from congress, i know we'll be happy to provide it on a totally bipartisan basis. >> on friday president obama declared a national swine flu emergency. he was quick to point out, though, this is not a response to any new developments. says it gives the federal government more power to help states. he says declaring a national emergency helps clear up documents and about reducing paperwork and thauld show reduce delays in treatment. >> eve before president obama declared a national emergency there were long lines across the country as people lined up for

the h1n1 vaccine. take a look. this is a scene outside utah yesterday. people began lining up overnight friday. eventually workers had to turn people away because the clinic ran out. in california, the problem was the reverse. not enough people for the vaccine they had. lines were long when the health clinic in versailles opened. they were standing on the sidewalk trying to flag down people to come in. the people that did come in say they're glad they did it. >> it didn't feel that bad. it's just like how my medicine is when they spray it. >> i believe in vaccinations, and thing that this is especially one that i don't want to take the small risk of her getting the h1n1 and having -- being one of those kids that has the severe complications. >> i feel confident and so does the cdc that this is a safe vaccine and this is effective.

this is our best tool to prevent this infection so i really encourage people to get the vaccine. >> even though it didn't use even half o the vaccine it has, it is slated to get another shipment. environmental officials are keeping a close eye on the air around a fuel storage site that exploded in puerto rico. toxic smoke is spewing out of that site but the wind is keeping it away from populated areas, at least for now. anyone with breathing problems should get out of the area immediately. five tanks are still burning from friday's blast which forced 1,500 people to evacuate. the fbi and atf are treating the facility as a crime scene as they try to determine what caused the blast. they're looking at suspicious graffiti found on tunnels near the facility which included the words "fire" and "boom." check out this video sent to us from i-reporter alex

encarnacion. he was flying from puerto rico and shout this from the air. he said the other passengers got a little rattled but he says he managed to keep his cool, enough to shoot this amazing footage. if you have pictures or video of bragss news, go to cnnireport.com. you'll find complete instructions how to submit your stories. nearly 21 years after the lockerbie earn bombing investigators are reportedly looking at new lines of inquiry. pan am flight 103 was blown up over scotland in 1988 killing 270 people. the sunday telegraph reports that scottish prosecutors recently sent an e-mail to victims' relatives indicating the case was going to be reviewed again. the only suspect was released because he has cancer. if there's reason to pursue new evidence, those steps should be

taken. a viewer of our sister network cnn has helped solve the mystery of a young woman who was found wandering the streets of new york saying she has no memory of who she is. police are not releasing her name at this moment but say her family is on their way from washington state to be row united with her. the viewer from maryland identified her from this photo. she knew she had been missing from her family since the beginning of this month. more than 1,000 tips have come in to florida authority whose are trying to figure out who killed 7-year-old somer tomas. they say they're following every orkable lead in this kachls her body was found in a land phil after she vanished while walking home from school last monday. authorities say even if people in the community don't have any leads, there are still things they can do to support the family. >> the family is encouraging everyone to come with purple balloons. after the service at orange park first baptist when the mother of somer and her family leave the

service and head to the cemetery, we're going to orchestrate a balloon release. if there are members of the community who are planning on coming to the church and attending the service, if you would like to come with a purple balloon in hand, will will be volunteers at the church who are going to hold those for you during the service and then help coordinate a balloon release when the family leaves the church in memory of somer. >> two events are planned today to help raise money for somer's family and for a reward fund. knee oh na zis in california. where they were and what they were doing that led to this brawl. >> as you can see, a scuf

broke out when 20 neo-nazis were met by 600 counter-demonstrators in riverside, california. punches began flying when members of a hispanic activist

group broke down police barriers and rushed the neo-nazis. >> this is what you guys wanted. here's what you guys get. >> they're the antagonists. they don't belong here. we wanted to demonstrate peacefully in america and you can see what the result is. >> this is racist. this is our community. this is america. >> riot police quickly broke things up and at least two of the counter-demonstrators were arrested. the scuffle was brief but both groups hurled insults and slurs apparently for three hours. this happened at a well known gathering place for day labors, many of them immigrants. the neo-nazi group said they met their goal of shutting down the site and they'll be back. police say they can help protect children just by knocking on doors. scores of officers set out yesterday to check in with more than 1,000 registered sex offenders. they ended up beating their goal by 600. and they arrested two dozen offenders who were not in

compliance with the terms of their registration. >> sex offenders, you know, potentially can wreak havoc with the lives of people if they reoffend. >> each one is on an individual basis, so usually prior to us getting up there and knocking on the door, we look at their history and find out what they're about and getting a little background before we go up. >> police say they wanted to be proactive to avoid cases like jaycee dugard. she was found 18 years after her abduction. police say she was held captive by registered sex offender philip garrido. the man accused of staging a hoax by claiming his son was trapped in a runaway balloon says he's upset with investigators. he says they should not have released an affidavit that his wife confessed to saying the whole thing was planned. says the heenes haven't seen the affidavit. wu the sheriff says releasing that kind of document is common if there is no order to keep it sealed.

senior white house officials say they were closely monitoring that passenger plane that missed the airport by 150 miles, but they're not saying if president obama was alerted at the time. that wayward northwest airlines jet with 141 passengers free past its minneapolis destination and was out of touch with air traffic controllers for more than an hour. the passengers say they had no idea what was going on. the faa is investigating. meanwhile the co-pilot is telling an affiliate he and the pilot did not fall asleep nor did they get into an argument that distracted them. investigators won't get much help from the cockpit recorder because it's an older model that only records 30 minutes of conversation at a time. that means it only has the last 30 minutes of the flight when the pilots already realized they had overshot minneapolis. florida was the place to be to get some real steals on some valuable jewelry, even diamonds. 40,000 items from unclaimed safe deposit boxes were auctioned off

yesterday. >> these are early notes. some are fractional notes from the civil war, several confederate bills. i saved these items for my grandsons when they get older and want to go to college. maybe this will be a good investment in their college expectation. i was expecting to pay more. i figured this would go for over $2,000 but i got it for $1,200. >> it also included a 13-carat diamond ring but don't worry if you missed out. it's an annual event. a 32-year-old los angeles woman outpuzzled hundreds of people to claim the u.s. national sudoku championship. she claimed the title in philadelphia yesterday. she won $10,000 and a spot on the u.s. world sudoku championship team. the world championship will be

held next spring in philadelphia. san francisco city college held a garage sale yesterday to try to save as many of its bring classes as possible. california's budget cuts forced the school to drop 800 courses. the school is trying to raise $25,000. each course costs the school about 6,000 bucks. how do you define a bad day? well, would it be something like this? a sheriff's deputy found himself in a very uncomfortable position, and, oh, the fire didn't help.

getting close to the 60 votes they need to advance a health care bill that includes a public option. senator chuck schumer says many democrats favor a middle ground proposal that allow states to opt out if they don't want to participa participate. his colleagkocolleague sherrod s he thinks that's what they need. >> i've gotten a lot of pressure. i don't want to do that. i see the public overwhelmingly wants a public option.

70% of physicians want a public option. at least 52 or 3 or 4 democratic senators have said they want a strong public option, according to tom harkin, the chairman of the committee. i think that that's the best thing for our country. >> but another democrat senator bill nelson says he's against the public option, even if the states can opt out. >> well, i certainly am not excited about a public option where states would opt out or a robust, as they call it robust government-run insurance plan. i'll take a look at the ones where they can opt in. look. i'm a jeffersonian democrat. i think states can make decisions on they're own about their own citizens. >> utah republican orrin hatch says the government's current problems with medicare and medicaid prove a public option won't work. >> we know that medicare, for instance, was enacted in 1965. it's a public option. today it's $38 trillion in

unfunded liability. medicaid is going broke within the next ten years we know if the democrats have 60 votes in the senate, we're going to have a public option. it may not be called that and it may be called an opt-out, but i guarantee the process will go there. why? because they're going to have this bill that they're going to cover people of 130% -- 133% of the -- of the poverty level, and that's -- like i say, that's 33% above new york's current expenditure. it's almost double what our expenditure is in utah. if that happens the states can't live with it. you're going to have a fiasco on your hands. lawmakers are expected to vote on the health care measure early next month. composer andrew lloyd webber is battling prostate cancer. a spokesperson says it's in the early stages and he's undergoing treatment. the 61-year-old is expected to be back to work at the beginning

of the year. his sequel is scheduled to open in london in march. he's known for other musical hits such as "cats," "evita," and jesus christ superstar." singer more icy collapsed last night. he was a front man from the 1980s band the smiths. the gas prices going sharply higher in the last few days, a fuel-efficient car could really be your friend. hln clark howard has the scoop. are you interested in buying a small car? well, not that many americans are right now because what's selling right now are things that are the bigger, the better. big honking trucks, huge sports utility vehicles. and the prices of those, especially used ones, have been going up and up and up. at the same time what was hot a year ago is not so hot now.

small cars, used small cars aren't selling at all. the owners can't beg, borrow orks steal. the prices of small cars are going down to the point that it is shocking. how much cheaper they are. soare. so if you zig while everybody else zags, buying a small, fuel efficient car while nobody seems to care about the price of gas, will get you a steal of a deal on that car and then when gas prices eventually rise again, because, you know, they go up and down like this, you will be sitting in the driver's seat. i'm clark howard. to are more ways for you to fatten your wallet, go to cnn.com/clark howard. >> for a whole lot more money saving advice, don't miss clark's show at 4:00 this afternoon eastern time right here on hln. here is one of those, what in the world videos? a deputy's car got caught up in

some dangling power lines after it knocked down a utility pole. it was hit by another car while racing to answer a car. it started a grass fire, as you can see, under the car. good news, the deputy was able to get out. no one was hurt. so some chefs wanted to prove that their ancestors are the ones who came up with hummos. they wanted to say that hummus is a popular deal among israelis and a brabs. have you ever wondered what a cross between a lizard and a dragon looks like? check it out. more than 100 slithering papermy shay monsters. hundreds of people on the streets to watch it. not just any will do.

they have to be at least 13 feet high or nine feet wide. most of rod stewart's long-time fans will always consider him a rocker. lately, he has been delving into his soulful side.

two massive explosions hit the center of baghdad. when the dust settled, scores were dead. hundreds more wounded. tips pouring in from across the country as authorities try to figure out who killed somer thompson. this might look like the end of a movie car chase. it was all too real to one deputy. how the patrol car endsed up in this position? thanks for having us here. this is hln news and views.

two suicide bombs ripped through baghdad. at least 132 people were killed. month are than 500 wounded. the bombs went off in quick succession outside a building. they are warning of a possible increase in violence as the country moves toward national elections. another u.s. service member was killed in a bombing in southern afghanistan. the military has not yet identified that service member. at least 34 members of the u.s. military have been killed this month. this year has been the deadliest in afghanistan since the war began eight years ago. happening today, a massive landslide has shut down i-40 near the tennessee, north carolina border. some of the rocks that fell were the size of a house. since early this morning, traffic had to be detoured. that section of i-40 winds through some very rugged

terrain, expected to remain closed for at least several weeks. the rocks are said to be piled up 50 feet high. one woman did suffer minor injuries when her jeep was hit by a falling rock. the senate's top republican says the gop is ready to do it's part to help fight the swine flu. minority leader, mitch mcconnell says congress is standing behind the president's efforts. >> if they need anything additionally from congress, i know we will be happy to provide it on a totally bipartisan basis. friday, president obama declared a national swine flu emergency and was quick to point out it is not a response to any new developments but gives the federal government more power to help states and reduces the paperwork that doctors have to deal with and should reduce delays in treatment. even before president obama declared a national emergency, there were long lines as people lined up for the h1n1 vaccine.

take a look. a scene outside a health department in salt lakecity yesterday, demand was so great that people began lining up noefr j overnight friday. in california, the problem was the reverse, not enough people for the vaccine they had. lines were long when the health clinic opened yesterday but before the morning was done, health care workers were standing on the sidewalk trying to flag down drivers to come in for free vaccine. the people that were vaccinated say, they are glad they did it. >> it didn't feel that bad. it's just like how my medicine is when they spray it. >> i believe in vacinations. i think that this is especially one that i don't want to take the small risk of her getting the h1n1 and being one of those kids that has the severe complications. >> i feel confident and so does the cdc that this is a safe vaccine and it is effective. this is our best tool to prevent

this infection. i really encourage people to get the vaccine. >> the clinic says even though it didn't use even ha have of the vaccine it has, it is slated to get another shipment. environmental officials are keeping a close eye on the air around a fuel storage site that explodend puerto rico. toxic smoke is spewing out. the wind is keeping it away from populated areas. anyone with breathing problems, they say, should get out of the area immediately. five tanks are still burning from friday's blast which forced 1,500 people to evacuate. only a few people were hurt. the fbi and atf are treated the facility as a crime scene while they try to determine what caused the blast. looking at suspicious graffiti that included the words fire and boom. check out this video sent to us from i reporter alex.

he shot interest from the air. the other passengers got a little rattled as the plane got close to these flames but he managed to keep his cool enough to shoot this amazing footage. if you have pictures or video of breaking news or just cool stories from your part of the world, go to cnn i-report.com and click on the upload link. a viewer of our sister network, cnn, has helped solve the mystery of a young woman found wondering the streets of new york saying she has no memory of who she is. police are not releasing her name but say her family is on the way to be reunited with her. the cnn viewer identified her from this photo. police say the viewer knew she had been missing from her family since the beginning of this month. more than 1,000 tips have come in to florida authorities who are trying to figure out who killed 7-year-old somer thompson. they say they are following every workable lead in this case. her body was found in a landfill

after she vanished while walking home from school last monday. authorities say even if people in the community don't have any leads, there are still things they can do to support the family. >> the family is encouraging everyone to come with purple balloons. after the service at first baptist, when the mother of somer and her family leave the service and head to the cemetery, we are going to orchestrate a balloon release. if you would like to come with a purple balloon in hand, there will be volunteers at the church who are going to hold those for you during the service and then help coordinate a balloon release. when the family leaves the church, in memory of somer. >> two events are planned for today to help raise money for the family and a reward fund. tonight on hln news and

views, nancy grace takes a closer look at what's going on with missing florida girl, haleigh cummings family. tensions between misty and haleigh's dad, ron, are heating up. nancy grace has the latest breaking developments at 8:00 and 10:00 p.m. eastern right here on hln. neonazis in california say they accomplished a big mission despite small numbers. where they were and what they were doing that led to this brawl.

a skuple broke out when 20 neonazis were met by 20 counter demonstrators. a hispanic activist group broke down police barriers and rushed the neonazis. >> you brought this on yourself. this is what you wanted. >> they are the antagonists. we wanted to demonstrate peacefully in america and you can see what the results are. >> the racists. this is america. >> police quickly broke things up. at least two of the counter demonstrators were arrested. the scuffle was brief. both groups hurled insults and slurs for three hours. this all happened at a well-known gathering place for day laborers. the neonazi group says they met their goal of sutihutting down site. police say they can help protect children by knocking on doors. scores of officers set out yesterday to check in with more

than 1,000 registered sex offenders. they ended upbeating their goal by 600. they arrested two dollzen offenders that were not in compliance with their registration. >> sex offenders can wreak havoc if they refend. >> prior to us getting up there and knocking on the door, we just look at their history and find out what they are about and get a little background before we go up and knock on the door. >> police say they wanted to be proactive to avoid cases like jaycee dugard. she was found 18 years after her abduction. police say she was held captive by registered sex offender, philip garrido. the lawyer of a man accused of staging a hoax by saying his son was trapped a balloon says he is upset with investigators. they should not have released an affidavit that says his wife says it was preplanned. he said, the heenes haven't seen

the affidavit which was used to get a search warrant. the sheriff says releasing that kind of document is common unless there is no order to have it sealed. senior white house officials say they were closely monitoring that passenger plane that missed the airport by 150 miles. but, they are not saying if president obama was alerted at the time. that wayward northwest airlines jet with 144 passengers flew past its minneapolis destination and was out of touch with air traffic controllers for more than an hour. they have no idea what is going on. the co-pilot told an affiliate that he and the pilot did not fall asleep nor did they get in an argument that distracted them. investigators won't get much help from the cockpit recorder because it only records 30 minutes. it only has the last 30 minutes when the pilots realized they had overshot minneapolis. florida was the place to be

to get some real steals on valuable jewelry, even diamonds. 40,000 items from unclaimed safe deposit boxes were auctioned off yesterday. >> these are early notes, some are fractional notes from the civil war, several confederate bills. i save these items for my grandsons for when they get older and they want to go to college. maybe this will be a good investment in their college education. i was expecting to pay more. i figured this would go from over $2000 but i got it to 1,200. it also included a 13 carat diamond ring. the auction of unclaimed itemses an annual event. a 32-year-old los angeles woman out puzzled hundreds of people claim the u.s. sudoku championship. she solved it less than 8:00 to

claim the title. she won $10,000 around a spot on the u.s. world sudoku championship team. it will be held next spring in philadelphia. san francisco city college held a garage sale yesterday to save as many of it's spring classes as possible. california budget cuts forced the school to drop 800 courses. now, the school is trying to raise $25,000. each course costs the school about $6,000. how. >> how do you define a bad day? would it be something like this. a sheriff's deputy found himself in an uncomfortable position and the fire didn't help. how this all happened.

senate democrats could be getting close to the 60 votes they need to advance health care that includes public option. many democrats favor middle ground proposal that allows states to opt out if they don't want to participate.

colleague senator says he thinks such a measure is what the country wants and needs. >> i've gotten a lot of pressure from progressives saying, draw a line in the sand. i don't want to do that. i want to get the best bill possible. the public wants a public option. 70% of physicians according to robert wood johnson foundation want a public option. at least 52 or 53 or 54 democratic senators say they want a strong public option according to tom harkin. i think that's the best thing for our country. >> senator bill nelson says he is against a public option, even if the states can opt out. >> i am certainly not excited about a public option where states would opt out or a robust, as they call it, robust government run insurance plan. i will take a look at the one where states could opt in if they make the decision themselves. look, i'm a eversewnian democrat. i think the states can make

decisions on their own about their own citizens. utah republican, orrin hatch, says the government's current problems with medicare and medicaid, prove a public option won't work. >> we know that medicare, for instance, was enacted in 1965. it's a public option. today, it is $38 trillion in unfunded liability. medicaid is going broke within the next ten years. we know that if the democrats get 60 votes in the senate, we are going to have a public option. it may not be called that. they may call it an opt out. i guarantee you, the process will go there. why? because they are going to have to in bill that they are going to cover people 133% of the poverty level. that's, like i say, that's 33% above new york's current expenditure. it's almost double what our expenditure is in utah. if that happens, the states can't live with it. you are going to have a fiasco on your hands. >> lawmakers are expected to

vote on a health care measure early next month. everybody wants to save more and spend less. chark howard will show you ways to save more and spend less and avoid getting ripped off. the clark howard show today at 4:00 p.m. right here on hln. composer andrew lloyd webbe rechlt is battling prostate cancer. he is undergoing treatment. the sequel to "phantom of the opera," "love never dies" is scheduled to open in march. singer, morrissey collapsed on stage last night. before his solo career, he was a front man from the 1980s band

"the smiths." we could be on the verge of finding out more about iran's nukele program. they are set to inspect an infinished uranium enrichment facility. the country has one other enrichment facility. many countries in the west including the u.s. suspect iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons. they say it is more suspicious that they kept this new facility under wraps. they insist their nuclear program is peaceful and will be used to generate power. here is one of those, what in the world videos? eye deputies car got caught up in some dangling power lines after it knocked down a utility pole. it happened in washington state. police who saw the accident say the deputy's car was hit by another car while racinging to answer a call. it started a grass fire. good news, the deputy was able to get out. no one was hurt. so some chefs wanted to

prove that their ancestors are the ones that came up with hummus. they made more than two tons of that dip in lebanon. they wanted to show that hummus is a lebanese dish. they accuse israel of stealing and marketing it. it is popular among arabs and israelis. they will troo i to set a similar record with tabouli salad. have you ever wondered what a cross between a lizard and a dragon looks like? more than 100 slithering paper monsters. each piece is created by hand but not just any will do. they have to be at least 13-feet high or nine-feet high to enter this parade. >> most of rod stewart's long-time fans will always consider him a rocker. lately, he has been delving into his soulful side. here is a vau of his late testify album and what he says he is the secret of his success.

two massive explosions hit the center of baghdad. when the dust settled, scores were dead, hundreds more wounded. tips pouring in from around the country as authorities try to figure out who killed 7-year-old somer thompson. how her family is asking the public to remember their little girl. this might look like the end of a movie car chase. it was all too real for one deputy. how the patrol car ended up in this precarious position. thanks for having us over. i'm virginia cha. two huge suozicide bombs

ripped through iraq. the bombs went off in quick succession outside two government buildings where the u.s. ambassador to the united nations briefly stopped yesterday. this he are warning of a possible increase in violence as the country moves towards national elections scheduled for january. another u.s. service member was killed in a bombing in southern afghanistan yesterday. the military has not yet identified that service member. at least 34 members of the u.s. military have been killed there this month. this year has been the deadliest for u.s. forces in afghanistan since the war began eight years ago. happening today, a massive landslide has shut down i-40 near the tennessee, north carolina border. some of the rocks that fell were the size of a house. since early this rng montmornin

traffic had to be detoured. it is expected to remain closed for at least several weeks. the rocks are piled up 50-feet high. one woman did suffer minor injuries when her jeep was hit by a falling rock. the senate's top republican says the gop is ready to do it's part to fight the swine flu. >> if they need anything additionally from congress, we will be happy to provide it. >> on friday, president obama declared a national swine flu emergency. he was quick to point out that this is not a response to any new developments. he says it gives the federal government more power to help states. he also said declaring a national emergency helps free up doctors by reducing the paperwork they have to deal with. that should reduce delay ns treatment. even before president obama declared a national emergency, there were long lines from across the country as people lined up for the h1n1 vaccine.

take a look. this was a scene outside a health department in salt lake city utah. demand was so great that people began lining up overnight friday. eventually, workers had to turn people away because the clinic ran out. in california, the problem was the reverse, not enough people for the vaccine they had. lines were long when the health clin clinic opened yesterday. before it was done, they were standing on the sidewalk trying to flag down drivers for free vaccine. the people who were vaccinated said they were glad they did it. >> it didn't feel that bad, just like how my medicine is when they spray it. >> i believe in vacinations. i think this is especially one that i don't want to take the small risk of her getting the h1n1 and being one of those kids that has the severe complications. >> i feel can have dependent and so does the cdc that this is a safe vaccine and it is effective.

this is our best tool to prevent this infection. i really encourage people to get the vaccine. >> the clinic says even though it didn't use even ha have of the vaccine it has, it is slated to get another shipment. >> environmental officials are keeping a close eye on the air around a fuel storage site that exploded in puerto rico. toxic smoke is spewing out of that site. anyone with breathing problems, authorities say, should get out of the area immediately. five tanks are still burning from friday's blast which forced 1,500 people to evacuate. only a few people were hurt in that explosion. the f bichlt i and atf are creted the facility as a crime scene while they try to determine what caused the blast. they are looking at suspicious graffiti found on tunnels that included the words fire and boom. check out this video sent to us from an i-reporter.

he was flying into puerto rico from dallas and shot this from the air. he says the other passengers got a little rattled. he said he managed to keep his cool enough to shoot this amazing footage. if you have pictures or video of breaking news or just cool stories from your part of the world, go to cnn i-report.com and click on the upload link. you will find complete instructions. nearly 21 years after the locker lockerbie airplane bombing, they are looking at new lines of inquirly. it was blown up in december, 1988 killing 270 people. scottish prosecutors recently sent an e-mail to relatives. the only man convicted in the attack was freed in august, sent back to libya after being diagnosed with terminal cancer. they say the case was never formally closed. if there is reason to pursue new

evidence, those steps should be taken. a viewer of our sister network, cnn, has helped solve the mystery of a young woman found wondering the streets of new york saying she has no memory of who she is. they say her family is on the way from washington state to be reunited with her. the cnn viewer from maryland identified her from this photo and knew she had been missing since the beginning of this month. more than 1,000 tips have come in to florida authorities who are trying to figure out who killed 7-year-old somer thompson. they say they are following every workable lead in this case. her body was found in a landfill after she vanished while walking home from school. authorities say, even if people in the community don't have any leads, there are still things they can do to support the family. the family is encouraging everyone to come with purple balloons. after the service at orange park first baptist, when the mother

of somer and her family leave the service and head to the cemetery, we are going to orchestrate a balloon release. if there are members of the community who are planning on coming to the church and attending the ser advice, if you would like to come with a purple balloon in hand, there will be volunteers at the church who are going to hold those for you during the service and then help coordinate a balloon release. when the family leaves the church, in memory of somer. >> two events are planned for to help raise money for somer's family and for a reward fund. some americans are traveling great distances in an effort to save on health care costs. >> the most typical procedure that people are going overseas for are ort pea dick surge why yous, cardiac surgeries, cancer and dental and cosmetic. >> reporter: there are risks. >> there are doctors abroad that are using medical instruments

and devices and techniques that are invented in america but not available in america because they are waiting for fda approval. >> reporter: for those looking abroad for medical care, experts caution, do your homework and xhu kate clearly with your doctors. they advice thoroughly researching doctors and hospitals before making any commitment and know the cost up front. >> there are some insurance companies that will treat overseas medical care as an out of network benefit. >> reporter: finally, understand the international legal issue if something goes wrong.

as you can see, a scuffle broke out when 20 neonazis were met by 600 counter demonstrators in riverside, california. punches began flying when

members of a hispanic activist group started throwing punches. >> this is what you guys wanted. this is what you get. >> they are the antagonists. >> is this what you wanted? >> we wanted to demonstrate peacefully in america and you can see the results. >> racists. this is our community. this is america. >> riot police quickly broke things up and at least two of the counter demonstrators were arrested. both groups hurled insults and slurs, apparently, for three hours. this all happened at a gathering place for day laborers, many of them immigrants. the neonazi group says they met their goal of shutting down the site and they will be back. police in san francisco says they can help protect children by knocking on doors. scores of officers set out to check in with more than 1,000 registered sex offenders. they arrested two dozen offenders who were not in compliance of the terms of their

registration. >> sex offenders potentially can wreak havoc with the lives of people if they reoffend. >> prior to us getting up there and knocking on the door, we look at the history and find out what they are about and get a little background. >> police say they wanted to be proactive to avoid cases like jaycee dugard. the lawyer for the man accused of staging a hoax by claiming his son was trapped in a run yahwaway balloon says he upset with investigators saying they should not have released an affidavit that his wife said the whole thing was preplanned. it shouldn't have been made public until the arrest was made. he said he hasn't even seen the affidavit. the sheriff said releasing that kind of document is common if there is no order to keep it sealed. florida was the place to be

to get some real steals on some valuable jewelry, even diamonds. 40,000 items from unclaimed safe deposit boxes were auctioned off yesterday. these are early notes. some are fractional notes from the civil war. there are several confederate bills. i saved these items for my grandsons when they get older and they want to go to college. maybe this will be a good investment in their college education i was expecting to pay more. i figured this would go for over $2000. i got it for $1,200. >> the items also included a 13 carat diamond ring, a diamond and platinum watch and other fine julie. don't worry if you missed out. the auction is an annual event. >> atkins, south beach, the zone, thee diets may help you shed pounds in a hurry but let's go beyond the surface with

dietician carrie glassman on how to lose weight. >> people are often tempted by a bad diet. what i tell people is, if a diet sounds too good to be true, it absolutely is too good to be true. >> avoid this common mistake. >> skipping meals does not help you lose weight. when you skip a meal, you slow down your met tapism. >> even if you are eating nonfat foods, there are lots of calories in nonfat foods. you can easily overconsume those foods. you still need to eat in portion control. >> here is a tip you might not know. >> sometimes people confuse hunger for thist. if you find yourself getting hungry an hour after you eat, actually, you may be thirsty. staying hydrated is a very important part to losing weight.

senate democrats could be getting close to the 60 votes they need for a public health care option. he thinks such a measure is what the country wants and needs. i have gotten a lot of pressure from progressives saying, draw a line in the sand. i don't want to do that. i want to get the best bill possible. i see that the public overwhelmingly wants a public option. 70% of physicians according to robert wood johnson foundation want a public option. at least 52 or 53 or 54 democratic senators say they want a strong public option. according to tom hearken, the chairman of the committee. i think that's the best thing for our country. >> another democrat, senator bill nelson, says he is against a public option even if the states can opt out. >> i certainly am not excited about a public option where

states would opt out or a robust as they call it, robust government run insurance plan. i'll take a look the one where states could opt in if they make a decision themselves. look, i'm a eversewnian democrat. i think the states can make decisions on their own about their own citizens. utah republican, orrin hatch, says the government's current problems prove a public option won't work. we know medicare from back in 1965, it's a public option. today, $38 trillion in unfunded liability. medicaid is going broke within the next ten years. we know that if the democrats get 60 votes in the senate, we are going to have a public option. it may not be called that. they may call it an opt out. i guarantee you, the process will go there. why? because they are going to have on this bill that they will cover people of 133% of the poverty level. that's, like i say, 33% above

new york's current expenditure. it is almost double what our expenditure is in utah. if that happens, the states can't live with it. you are going to have a fiasco on your hands. >> lawmakers are expected to vote on a health care measure early next month. everyone wants to save more and spend less, right? join hln money expert, clark howard, at 4:00 p.m. eastern. he will show you ways to save more, spend less and avoid getting ripped off. the clark howard show at 4:00 p.m. right here on hln. composer, andrew lloyd webber is battling prostate cancer. the 61-year-old is expected to be back at work before the end of the year. the see the question to phantom of the opera, love never dies, is scheduled to open in march. he is known for cats, avida and

jesus christ, superstar. singer morrissey has been released after collapsing on stage last night. they haven't said what happened to him. before his solo career, he was a front man from the 1980 we could be on the verge of finding out a lot more about iran's nuclear program. the team of united nations inspectors arrived in the country today. they're expected to inspect a uranium enrichment facility. the country has one other enrichment facility. many counties in the west suspect that iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons. they say it is even more suspicious that iran kept this new facility under wraps for so long. but iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful and will be used to generate power. here's one of those, what in the world, videos. a deputy's car got caught up in dangling power lines after it knocked down a utility pole. police who saw the accident say

the deputy's car was hit by another car while racing to answer a call. the snapped power lines started a grass fire. the deputy was able to get out. no one was hurt. some chefs wanted to prove that their ancestors are the once who came up with hummus. they made more than two tons of that dish in lebanon yesterday. they wanted to show that hummus is a lebanese dish. they accuse israel of stealing it and marketing it as israeli. the origin is actually unknown even though it's popular between arabs and israelis. today they'll try to set another record with tabbouleh salad. a parade in mexico city brought out more than 100 papier-mache monsters. each piece is created by hand. but not just any will do. they have to be at least 13 feet high or 9 feet wide to enter

this parade. most of rod stewart's longtime fans will always consider him a rocker, but lately he'sen delving into his soulful side. 

two massive explosions hit the center of baghdad. when the dust settled, scores were dead, hundreds more wounded. tips pouring in across the country as florida authorities try to figure out who killed 7-year-old somer thompson. how the family is asking the public to remember their little girl. this might look like the end of a movie car chase but it was all too real for one deputy. hey there, thanks for having us over. this is hln's "news and views." i'm virginia cha. two huge suicide bombs ripped through baghdad 2340ed the

deadliest attack against iraqi civilians this year. at least 132 people were killed more than 500 wounded. the bombs went off in quick succession outside two buildings one was a building where the ambassador briefly stopped yesterday. both iraqi and u.s. officials are warning of a possible increase in violence as the country moves towards national elections scheduled for january. another u.s. service member was killed in a bombing in southern afghanistan yesterday. the military has not yet identified that service member. at least 34 members have been killed there this month. this year has been the deadliest for u.s. forces in afghanistan since the war began eight years ago. happening today, a massive landslide has shut down i-40 near the tennessee/north carolina border. troopers say some of the rocks that fell were the size of a house since early this morning traffic will to be detoured around the falling rocks. the section of i-40 winds through some very rugged

terrain. it's expected to be closed for at least several weeks. the rocks are said to be piled up at least 50 feet high. the slide itself is 100 feet long. one woman suffered minor injuries when her jeep was hit by a falling rock. the senate's top republican says the gop is ready to do its part to help fight the swine flu. appearing on abc's "this week," minority leader mitch mcconnell says congress is standing behind the president's efforts. >> if they need anything additionally from congress, i know we'll be happy to provide it on a totally bipartisan basis. >> on friday president obama declared a national swine flu emergency. he was quick to point out, though, this is not a response to any new developments. he says it gives the federal government more power to help states. he says declaring a national emergency helps free up doctors by reducing the paperwork that they have to deal with and reduces delays in treatment. even before president obama declared a national emergency there were long lines across the country before people lined up for the h1n1 vaccine.

take a look. this is a scene outside utah yesterday. people began lining up overnight friday. eventually workers had to turn people away because the clinic ran out. environmental officials are keeping a close eye on the air around a fuel storage site that exploded in puerto rico. toxic smoke is spewing out of that site, but the wind is keeping it away from populated areas, at least for now. anyone with breathes problems should get out of the area immediately. five tanks are still burning from friday's blast which forced 1500 people to evacuate. only a few people were hurt in that explosion. the fbi and atf are treating the facility as a crime scene while they try to determine what caused the blast. but looking at suspicious graffiti found on tunnels near the facility which included the words "fire" and "boom." nearly 21 years after the lockerbie airplane bombing, investigators reportedly are looking at new lines of inquiry. pan am flight 103 was blown up

in 1988, killing 270 people. the sunday telegraph reports that scottish prosecutors recently sent an e-mail to victims' relatives indicating the case is being reviewed again. the only man convicted of the attack was freed in august, sent back to libya on compassionate release after being diagnosed with terminal cancer. the british foreign secretary says the case was never formally closed. if there's a new reason to pursue evidence, those steps should be taken. a viewer of cnn has helped solve the mystery of a young woman who was found wandering the streets of new york saying she has no memory of who she is. police are saying her family is on the way from washington state to be reunited with her. the cnn viewer from maryland identified her from this photo. police say the viewer knew she'd been missing from her family since the beginning of this month. more than a thousand tips have come in to florida authorities who are trying to figure out who killed 7-year-old somer thompson.

they say they're following every workable lead in this case. her body was found in a landfill after she vanished from walking home from school. even if people in the community don't have any leads, there are still things they can do to support the family. >> the family is encouraging everyone to come with purple balloons. after the service at orange park first baptist where the mother of somer and her family leave the service and head to the cemetery. we're going to orchestrate a balloon release. if there are members of the community who are planning on coming to the church and attending the service, if you would like to come with a burple balloon in hand, there will be members at the church who will hold those for you during the service then help coordinate a balloon release when the family leaves the church in memory of somer. >> two events are planned for today to help raise money for somer's family and a reward

fund. tonight on hln news and views, nancy grace takes a closer look at what's going on with missing florida girl haleigh cummings family. tensions between misty and the dad ron are said to be heating up. will it get misty to tell all about the night that the little florida girl vanished from her home? nancy has the latest breaking developments at 8:00 and 10:00. neo-nazis in california say they accomplished a big mission despite small numbers. where they were and what they were doing that led to this brawl.

as you can see, a scuffle broke out when 20 neo-nazis were met by 600 counter-demonstrators in riverside, california. punches began flying when members of a hispanic activist group broke down police barriers and rushed the neo-nazis.

>> you guys brought this to yourself. this is what you guys wanted. this is what you guys get. >> they're the antagonists. they don't belong here. >> is this what you wanted? >> we wanted to demonstrate peacefully in america and you can see what the result is. >> this is racist. this is our community. this is america. >> riot police quickly broke things up and at least two of the counter-demonstrators were arrested. the scuffle was brief but both groups hurled insults and slurs apparently for three hours. this happened at a well known gathering place for day laborers, many of them immigrants. the neo-nazi group said they met their goal of shutting down the site and they'll be back. police in sacramento say they can help protect children just by knocking on doors. scores of officers set out yesterday to check in with more than 1,000 registered sex offenders. they ended up beating their goal by 600. and they arrested two dozen offenders who were not in compliance with the terms of their registration. >> sex offenders, you know,

potentially can wreak havoc with the lives of people if they reoffend. >> each one is on an individual basis, so usually prior to us getting up there and knocking on the door, we look at their history and find out what they're about and getting a little background before we go up and knock on the door. >> police say they wanted to be proactive to avoid cases like jaycee dugard. she was found 18 years after her abduction. police say she was held captive by registered sex offender philip garrido. the lawyer for the man accuse fd o staging a hoax by claiming his son was trapped in a runaway balloon says he's upset with investigators. richard heene's attorney says they should not have released an affidavit that says that heene's wife confessed the whole thing was preplanned. he says the heenes haven't even seen the affidavit which was used to get a search warrant for their home. but the sheriff says releasing that type of document is common. senior white house officials

say they were closely monitoring that passenger plane that missed the airport by 150 miles, but they're not saying if president obama was alerted at the time. that wayward northwest airlines jet with 144 passengers flew past its minneapolis destination and was out of touch with air traffic controllers for more than an hour. the passengers say they had no idea what was going on. the faa is investigating. meanwhile the co-pilot is telling an affiliate he and the pilot did not fall asleep nor did they get into an argument that distracted them. investigators won't get much help from the cockpit recorder because it's an older model that only records 30 minutes of conversation at a time. that means it only has the last 30 minutes of the flight when the pilots already realized they had overshot minneapolis. florida was the place to be to get some real steals on some valuable jewelry, even diamonds. 40,000 items from unclaimed safe deposit boxes were auctioned off yesterday.

>> these are early notes. some are fractional notes from the civil war, several confederate bills. i saved these items for my grandsons when they get older and want to go to college. maybe this will be a good education. i was expecting to pay more. i figured this would go for over $2,000 but i got it for $1,200. >> it also included a 13-carat diamond ring, a diamond and platinum watch and other fine jewelry. but don't worry if you miss out. the auction of unclaimed items is an annual event. how would you describe a bad day? 134g like this? sheriff deputy found himself in an uncomfortable position.

senate democrats could be getting close to the 60 votes they need to advance a health care bill that includes a public option. senator chuck schumer says many democrats favor a middle ground proposal that allow states to opt out if they don't want to participate. his colleague sherrod brown says he thinks such a measure is what the country wants and needs. >> i've gotten a lot of pressure from progressives saying draw a line in the sand. i don't want to do that. i want to get the best bill possible. i see the public overwhelmingly wants a public option. 70% of physicians according to a robert wood foundation wants a public option. at least 52 or 3 or 4 democratic senators have said they want a strong public option, according to tom harkin, the chairman of the committee. i think that that's the best thing for our country.

>> but another democrat senator bill nelson says he's against the public option, even if the states can opt out. >> well, i certainly am not excited about a public option where states would opt out or a robust, as they call it robust government-run insurance plan. i'll take a look at the ones where states could opt in if they make the decision themselves. i'm a jeffersonian democrat. i think states can make decisions on they're own about their own citizens. >> utah republican orrin hatch says the government's current problems with medicare and medicaid prove a public option won't work. >> we know that medicare, for instance, was enacted in 1965. it's a public option. today it's $38 trillion in unfunded liability. medicaid is going broke within the next ten years. we know that if the democrats get 60 votes in senate, we're going to have a public option. it may not be called that and it may be called an opt-out, but i guarantee the process will go

there. why? because they're going to have in this bill that they're going to cover people of 130% -- 133% of the poverty level, and like i say, that's 33% above new york's current expenditure. it's almost double what our expenditure is in utah. if that happens, the states can't live with it, you're going to have a fiasco on your hands. >> lawmakers are expected to vote early next month. everybody wants to save more and spend less, right? we've got just the guy to help you. join clark howard at 4:00 p.m. eastern because he'll show you ways to save more, spend less and avoid getting ripped off. composer andrew lloyd webber is battling prostate cancer. a spokeswoman says the disease is in the very early stages and that weber is undergoing treatment. the 61-year-old is expected to

be back to work at the beginning of the year. his sequel to "phantom of the opera", "love never dies" is scheduled to open in london in march. he's known for other musical hits such as "cats," "evita," and "jesus christ superstar." singer morrisey collapsed on stage last night. medical officials say he's much improved but haven't said exactly what happened to him. he was a front man from the 1980s band the smiths. we could be on the verge of finding out a lot more about iran's nuclear program. a team of united nations inspectors arrived in the country today. they're set to inspect an unined uranium enrichment facility. iran revealed the existence of that facility last month. the country has one other enrichment facility, that one near esphan. many in the country expect that iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons. it is even more suspicious that iran kept this new facility under wraps for so long. but iran insists its nuclear

plan is peaceful and will be used to generate power. a deputy's car got caught up in dangling power lines after it knocked down a utility pole. it happened in pierce county, washington state. the deputy's car was hit by another car while racing to answer a car. the snapped power line started a grass fire, as you can see, under the car. the deputy was able to get out. no bun was hurt. hurricane katrina devastated families and entire neighborhoods were destroyed. also victims in this, small businesses. getting those businesses up and running again was vital to the recovery of new orleans. rock and bowl, a new orleans institution that opened in 1941, is one of those businesses. sean callebs has the story. >> reporter: it's a bowling

alley, restaurant and a place known for its live music. it's also a beacon of light in new orleans. and proof that businesses can return. >> my name is john blancher. and this is my turnaround story. >> reporter: whenhood ht destroyed his business, blanchard did what he did best -- he went back to work. >> what helped me turn the thing around, was a combination of my faith, my family, friends and good will from a lot of people that wanted to help me and wanted rock and bowl to not day. >> reporter: they pitched in, so did idea village. they support local entrepreneurs. >> after katrina, we were tasked with going through the community in the streets, through every single neighborhood to find the true changemakers, those entrepreneurs that if we can get their business up and help them start, not only will it create jobs and revenue, but the social impact to what they could mean

to our community. >> reporter: blanchard and ro rock 'n bowl. the rest of the money to rebuild came from insurance. $50,000 later and only six weeks after katrina, rock 'n bowl was back in business. six weeks after the storm. >> that first night, 700 people showed up. >> reporter: that first night, john knew his business would make a turnaround. since reopening rock 'n bowl business is up 50%, enough to help move to this new location. his hard works a taken a toll. let me see how you fare here. >> as i said, this is only the second ball i've thrown here in six months. but we'll see how i go, if i can even stay on my feet. you see? >> reporter: well, you got barack obama tied.

>> sean callebs, new orleans. dd

hello, i'm gerri willis, and this is "your bottom line," the show that saves you money. home prices are down across the country and they're still falling. so grab a pen and paper. we've got your guide to offseason home buying. green myths. we'll separate fact from fiction. and the battle of the sexes, how and why men and women should handle their finances differently. plus what you can learn from your spouse. the show that saves you money starts right now. home prices are bottoming out, right? well, maybe not. according to a new forecast,

home prices are expected to get a whole lot more affordable. in fact, they're predicted to plunge in 342 out of 381 markets during the next year. overall the national median home price is forecast to drop 11.3% by june 2010. for the following year, that's 2011, fiserv anticipates some stabilization with prices rising 3.6%. the weakest cities, they're miami, orlando, las vegas, and the most stable you might be surprised, kennewick, washington, fairbanks and anchorage, alaska. the fall and winter months are usually considered an offpeak time for home buying, but as you just heard with home prices dipping and mortgage rates at all-time lows, what are the secrets you need to know to get the best deal in the market? here with some advice is rick neuman, chief business correspondent for "u.s. news & world report." rick, great to see you. >> hi, gerri. >> we talk about how hard it is

to get the mortgage. you have to put 20% down now. you have to have a great credit score. 720, 740. you think there's more to think about. >> right, we know about the home buyer tax credit the $8,000 credit supposed to expire in december. it's looking like -- there's a lot of clatter in washington that maybe this will be extended. this has a big impact whether you qualify for the credit or not because that credit has driven up demand for houses in a lot of markets, which raises prices a little bit. so people just need to be paying attention to that. there's some other things going on in washington sort of behind the scenes that affect the availability of mortgages and mortgage rates, which is going to affect the market for houses going into the winter. >> the bottom line there, of course, there's no guarantee the low mortgage rates will continue. >> right, but i think for sure, the government is not going to let things go spiraling out of control. so i think the rationale in washington for sure is at some point yes, the government needs to stop subsidizing the housing market but it will be a gradual

pullback, which means it's probably likely that we'll see some extension of that credit. and mortgage rates are probably going to stay low for a long time. >> that's good news. >> the housing market has to get better before the overall economy gets better. >> one of the things you say and it's interesting, before you go out and buy, make sure that job is stable. >> right. so companies for the most part have stopped these big mass layoffs we've heard about. but unemployment is still getting worse. so your job might be stable or you might feel like it is, but if something happens, the chances that you will get another job quickly are not great. you have to do all this homework and really make sure you're in a place to buy a house if that's what you're going to do. as you pointed out it really is a buyer's market and it's going to stay that way for some time. >> i want to talk to you about foreclosures. a lot of people think that's a great way to get in the market if you're having a hard time affording a house. would do you it now? >> it's not as simple as it sounds. it's not like buying a pair of jeans off of the clearance rack getting 50% off. it sounds like a great deal.

but foreclosed properties, there could be lots of problems. there can be liens on the properties, other legal issues and foreclosed homes tend to be in neighborhoods with other foreclosed homes. so you want to go to that neighborhood. look around. if they're shabby homes, unkept homes. if you can get into some of the local real estate records, find out what other foreclosures have happened and get a feel for the neighborhood. is it a nice stable neighborhood, homes well taken care of or feel like it's marginal? foreclosures are still going up so the house next to yours could end up in foreclosure, too. more than ever, get into the community you're interested in, do your homework, ask around, knock on doors. >> right. >> canvas realtors and do your own intelligence gathering really. >> do your homework. great advice, rick. thanks for that. >> as always, thank you. as we mentioned mortgage rates are at record lows. take a look at these rates, 30-year fixed, 5.07%, a 15-year fixed 4.51. so you want a piece of this action?

you'll find a re-fi makes sense if the rate you can lock in is half a percent or three-quarters a percent lower than your current mortgage. shop around to get the best rate. some lenders are more willing to be flexible than others and refinancing is not free. you can expect to pay 3% to 6% of the mortgage amount in fees. and don't refi if you're planning to move in a couple of years unless you're worried your adjustable rate mortgage will reset to unaffordable levels. up next, the battle of the sexes. men, women and the different ways they can and should handle their money.

time now to pit the women against the men, or in our case, our woman, co-author of "get financially naked: how to talk

about money with your honey," up against ryan mack, the president of optimum capital management and a frequent participant in our show. good to see you both. all right. there's going to be some fireworks here. so i invite you to talk to each other, but i want to start with you. a lot of people out there are finding out their employers are cutting their 401(k) match, they're not happy, saying times are hard, i'm going to stop investing. is that the right thing? >> no. to me, it's like when a woman is 30 pounds overweight and she's sitting there agonizing over romaine over red leaf lettuce. just eat lettuce. a lot of women aren't saving enough for retirement. we tend to spend 12 years out of paid workforce as compared to men, that difference is massive, over a life cycle, because we spend it in the early years and it means you'll get half as much in your nest egg. so you need to keep contributing. >> you can't disagree with that now, can you? >> i agree with it, and the bottom line is, sometimes men get a little bit overconfident

and they tend to trade a little bit more frequently than women do. there's a study by the university of california that studied 35,000 couples and found that men turn over their portfolios 77% annually versus 3% annually for women. we know the buy and hold strategy works the best. 401(k) strategy the best way to use the buy and hold dollar cost investment strategy. the people who bailed out in 2001, 2002 or 2007 and 8 when the market returned, they know about locking in your losses and selling on the low. >> can i just say good luck convincing men of that? i want to ask you about investing money, a lot of people invest beyond their retirement, typically a great idea because most of us even if we do the 401(k) we still will need more money in retirement. where do you put that dough? >> with someone you trust. i highlight this because in the news we have patricia cornwall, famous detective novelist, who now is looking for $40 million of her hard earned dollars because she invested, assumed

the money would be taken care of. i see this mistake by women a lot. i really feel you want to take control of your finances. a simple formula you can use, 110 minus your age as a woman, maximum amount you put in stocks, remainder in bonds and cash. >> you're saying get an adviser. do you have to get an adviser, ryan? >> the days of going to an adviser without adequate knowledge of what you're getting into, those days are over. if i steal a car and i'll get arrested, i don't have to be to a lawyer or be a jd to have that knowledge. you do have to have the basis of knowledge. the problem is men is that sometimes we might have a little bit too much pride to say that we actually need assistance from somebody. >> i'm making the list, pride, you don't stay in your investments long enough. this is a long list. >> ants in the pants. >> most of the couples that i work with are those individuals the woman is always the one who comes for the assistance, they're always the one who takes the initiative and says look we need assistance. the man kind of sits back and says, i don't need help,

i can do it all by myself but sometimes it's okay to be humble and say i could need assistance. but make sure you help yourself first. >> the metaphor for life, ask for directions every time. >> exactly. >> let's get on to emergency funds, because this is a tough question. i don't know the difference between the sexes on this one, but you have money that you may need at any time, in this market where interest rates are so low, where do you put it? i'll let you start, ryan. >> i think that right now if you look at bankrate.com, they'll show a lot of the highest rates. online bank accounts have great yields. i'm actually telling individuals look at your local credit unions. they have great yields because they don't have to appeal to profits. look at maria shriver, she had a documentary out "the women's nation" that is saying that women are starting more businesses now. men will step it up. they're going to need those emergency funds more than women. >> one thing i highlight is option rate securities don't forget about that. >> the what? what are you talking about? >> a couple years ago there was this fancy shmancy product that a lot of firms offered their

clients where you could put your money in cash and get a higher than average interest rate. >> they offered you more and you were a little greedy you would step out and buy that? >> exactly, then you got your fingers chopped because the whole market froesz up. so what i like to tell women is don't get greedy. make sure if it sounds too good to be true with personal finance usually it is. >> i have to get you to this question about asking for a raise because this is where women fall short. men will ask for the money, women not so much. manisha what is your advice? >> i really feel you need to ask for it. in fact there's a new book out called that title and i suggest women read it. here's the problem. 80% of men identify with this statement, "i set my value in the office place." only 20% of women believe that and it's really hard, all of these articles with things like 11 powerful women that make men squirm. so there's a lot of societal pressure for us not to be strong. but we need to encourage each other to do it. >> ryan, you probably have good advice for us when it comes to asking for more money.

>> most individuals, especially if they like their job, they could be on the brink of being fired for laziness and they'll still say i deserve to get a raise. but what are you doing to deserve getting a raise? do you log and write down all of the things, do you get to work early, write down the proposals and projects that you propose and say let me get that done to an increased value to the company more so than the person to the next of you? >> thanks for your help today, manisha and ryan, great information, good conversation and it's good to know that we can reinforce both of the sexes. we all have to worry about money, but for latinos, the relationship with money can be very different from other folks. some latinos, a community leader explains, have never, never trusted banks. >> the community was basically under attack. people were being robbed because there wasn't a safe place where to keep their money. >> a little later in the show we'll speak with the author of "the latino journey to financial greatness." also ahead, we'd all like to go green and save green at the

same time, but can you really believe all the hype surrounding those eco products?

remember that rebate program for appliances that was announced right after cash for clunkers? customers were encouraged to trade in their old energy burning washers, dryers, refrigerators for new ones with energy star efficiency. there's something you may not know about those energy stars, and our mary snow found out that

what you don't know could cost you. >> you see the energy star labels. they've become so common. they're put there by manufacturers on a voluntary basis. but a government report found some holes in claims made by appliancemakers and so did "consumer reports." the energy star label is intended to guarantee consumers a product is energy efficient, but at consumer reports labs mark connelley found this freezer that should not have the energy star logo. >> it used a lot more energy in our labs than it claimed. >> can a manufacturer just put on an energy star sticker? >> well, they're supposed to have these products tested and they do, but they themselves test it. >> if you had not run this test, people would buy this thinking i'm saving on energy and money. >> correct. >> but in reality? >> the reality is it's using twice as much energy than it claims. >> and an appliance like this, claiming an energy bill of $60 a year could actually be double. of hundreds of products he tests

every year, he estimates 5% to 10% should not be labeled energy star. >> for the most part the products we test that claim to be energy star are in fact telling the truth, but there are enough products out there that give us some concern. >> those concerns are shared by the department of energy's inspector general who in an audit found the department had not implemented planned improvements in the energy star program. the report concludes those delays could reduce consumer confidence in the integrity of the energy star label. we asked the department of energy's kathy zoy about the criticisms. >> inspector general identified a number of improvements to the program and, frankly, we agree with those improvements and we have put a plan in place to get all of those improvements implemented. >> but as the department of energy works on those improvements, it's in the process of planning a rebate program for consumers buying energy star products. $300 million of stimulus money is being used. can consumers be confident the products are as energy efficient as they claim to be? >> there have been examples that

are very rare where a manufacturer has misused or misappropriated, misapplied the energy star logo and when the department of energy or when the epa has found out about that, they've taken steps, taken action and those manufacturers have had to recompense people who bought those appliances. >> unbelievable. mary, i thought the energy star label meant something. what are these people saying about the label and about these independent audits of energy efficiency? >> policing is the big issue here. and we asked the department of energy about that. they say they have started third party testing on some of those products. they plan to expand it to others. no set timetable. they are hoping in the meantime some of these punitive actions that they mentioned are going to get manufacturers in line. >> wow, that's just an amazing story. thank you so much for bringing it to us. >> sure. >> saving energy not only helps your wallet but the planet as well. so many labels and trends out there, it is hard to know really

what's worth it and what's just hype. here to de bunk some of the popular myths out there is an associate editor with "kiplinger personal finance." let's start with the first of these. my mom always told me i had to turn out the light bulb every time i walked out of the room, but you say that's not necessarily true now? >> it depends on what kind of light bulbs you have in the room. if they are traditional incandescent bulbs, then your mom was right. you should turn them out every time you leave the room. with compact fluorescents, it's different. that's because the more times you turn a cfl on and off, the shorter its operating life. so what the department of energy recommends as a rule of thumb is that if you're going to leave a room for more than 15 minutes, you should turn the cfls off. >> that's great advice. i have to ask you about the labels, though. eco-friendly, green, earth

smart. does this mean anything? >> those really fall -- those kinds of vague marketing claims really fall into the category of green washing. the federal trade commission has begun to crack down on these sort of green labels to ensure that they meet their smeflt test, if you will. meanwhile, maybe because of the ftc's concern, some manufacturers have begun to clarify their labels and put more information and advice for consumers on their websites. >> let me ask you about hybrids. i know people think i'm going to pay more for the hybrid but i'll make it up as i save money on gas. true or false? >> sort of true. with the hybrid, the decree to which you recoup that up front

premium which is usually about $3,000 plus dollars depends on how often and how far you drive, how long you expect to keep the car. generally you need to keep it five years or longer to recoup that premium. also, it depends on the price of gas. the higher the price of gas, the more quickly you'll recoup the premium. when gas prices are low as they are right now, then if you buy a hybrid you're buying it as an insurance policy against future higher prices. >> thank you, for your help today. fewer than 50% of latinos in america carry a credit card. our latino financial expert is here to tell us why and what the implications could be. they said it would never last.

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debt, investment, your financial future. making smart decisions can be so confusing. you don't know necessarily where to turn. i'm clark howard. i'm here to give you advise each and every week that i believe you can trust. you'll decide. give me this next half hour, and let's see if i can make a difference in your wallet. ever since i can remember, i've been fascinated by money. by the time i was 31, i earned enough to retire. i embarked on a new mission, helping you take care of your money so you can save more,

spend less and avoid getting ripped off. >> now from his radio studio, your money expert, clark howard. do you bank online, have a brokerage account that you access online? it's fine to do that from a secure internet connection like one in your home. one thing you shouldn't do is go to the place that you might get your bagel or something like that that has free internet service or an airport departure lounge and on a wi-fi network access any financial site you use. why? because, believe it or not, there are lots of criminals lurking out there, and quite often wi-fi hot spots don't have the best security. so even if it's a perfectly legitimate place for you to go on the web, there may be illegitimate people sniffing you out, stealing your signal, taking your passport, and before

you know it, you've got a problem because somebody has taken over your bank or brokerage account. what should you do? it's great to check what's going on with your account. but only do so where you have a hard line connection to the web or a secured one in your own home. you'll thank me for it later. let's see how i can be of service to you. what question do you have for me? diane is with us. diane, i understand you are ready and poised for me to hit a scam alert about your question. is that right? >> caller: i don't know. but i think i've learned from you that i have to be very careful. so has put an offer in for his first home. he has 30% to put down. it is a bank-owned property. he put in an offer last night with the agent, and the seller came back and said, we can't accept your offer unless he's

willing to -- or is interested in the coupon. so he gave us the website and we checked it out. in addition to the two-year warrantee that they're offering, they're also offering a 3.5% of the selling price will go towards the closing costs. it all seems too good to be true. what do you think? >> it is legit. the smart buy program. >> caller: yes. and they said -- the company we contacted said they're a marketing agent for fannie mac owned homes. >> that's right. fannie mac is trying as hard as it can to shed its foreclosures, and this coupon offer which is the right term for it right now is good till just before halloween. and the idea -- it's not a trick. it's a treat. the idea of this is to offer a special incentive that, as people are looking at foreclosures, that they'll choose to buy a fannie mac one

versus another one, and try to get them to stand out in the market. how did you teach your son to be such a good saver that he saved up 30% of the purchase price of this home? >> because we taught him he had to grow up to be a responsible adult so that as an adult we are not responsible for him. and that was our motto. >> how old is he? >> caller: 24. >> wait, wait. at 24 he's already saved almost a third of the purchase price of a home and smart enough to buy a foreclosure? >> caller: $50,000 he saved. >> that is a great story. i'm sure he's going to be very successful financially under your leadership. hi, ron, how are you doing? >> caller: fine. thanks for taking my call. my question is i've got a cd that's maturing here in the next week or so and i really don't know where to turn with the way

the cd rates are. >> how long did you have it tied up for that's coming due? >> caller: it was only tied up for a year. >> so you a year ago would have received an interest rate i would guess just a little higher than what rates are now? what did you have on that one? >> caller: well, i think i got in at 3 and that's what it was on that one. >> and now if you were to renew a one-year cd, best rates in the country, you'll do just a little over 2%. >> caller: i can't even get that. >> oh, yeah. you can get that rate now. i'll tell you a website to look at, bankrate.com that does a daily survey of interest rates around the country, and it's not exhaustive, but it's a pretty good list. another thing to do is check locally to see if any credit union around you is offering a good deal. >> caller: okay. >> the thing i like for people to look at right now as an

alternative to cds that has minimal risk is to look at something a little more esoteric, a corporate bond fund, a shorter term corporate bond fund. you could in a year lose a little bit of your money, but the level of risk is so low and overtime what you could make on the money is likely enough higher than a cd that i'd like for you to look at that. one company i want you to look at for bond funds, vanguard. they do them better and cheaper than anybody else. next on clark howard. >> i always was gravitating toward this particular car and i love it. so i it might not be practical for some other people, but for me i think i made a good choice.

marsha, you want to talk about the other side of credit cards, that's accepting them, not having them. how are you, marsha. >> caller: it's marcy yeah. i have a non-profit and i'm setting up a website for it. and i want to be able to take credit cards for donations and payment. >> so easy. >> caller: okay. >> one of the easiest ways of all, and it's one of the things they try to do to attract business members or in your case non-profit organization members is the warehouse clubs, especially costco and samms, do a big push on offering merchant services for either physical sales in a store or internet sales. are you a member of either samms or costco? >> caller: yes, i am. >> if you go by the membership desk, you'll see where they have

those glossy brochures or go to the samms club website or costco website and see the details on being a merchant vendor for visa or mastercard, and the deals are so much better than if you go to the bank your non-profit has its accounts at and try to get their help in setting up credit card merchant privileges, the deals they'll offer won't be close to what you'll be able to get from sam's or costco even through the warehouse clubs you can get the technology to do the check out on your website or the non-profit so you can take the cards. it's almost a one-stop shop. if you have a question for me, i'd love to take a stab at it. here is what you do. you go to cnn.com/clarkhoward and hit the video submission button. send me your video and maybe

i'll be able to answer it right here on the tv as belle has submitted her question. >> hi, i'm belle and i need a money coach. i have a 2008335 bmw. i'm the first owner. i leased it in 2008 in january. it's my baby and i love it. my main concern is whether or not i am actually doing the best thing for my financial future. at the time i thought that leasing it would make it more affordable. my monthly payment is $774. i think that the monthly payment might be high to some people. but to me it's very affordable, or i don't feel bothered by it. i recognize if i decided to purchase the vehicle, now the payment would go up. my question is, should i continue to lease or should i negotiate a buyout. >> i had to pick myself up off the floor. almost $800 a month in lease

payments for a car? wow. i don't want to go into cardiac arrest. but right now, belle, what you've got to do is you've got to suck it up and make those payments till you're done with your lease on the bmw. at the end of the lease, one of the things you could do is you could buy it from bmw or the finance company. and depending on what the market value is of the vehicle and what you've agreed to prior in the lease, that might be the best way because you love the car, you'll be the one who knows how it drives. you can keep driving it for years after that. and that would be okay for you. i don't want you to lease an expensive car. leasing is really poison to your pocketbook. but buying a car that somebody has returned at the end of a lease, that is fantastic for your wallet.

so if somebody has had it out there two, three, four years on a lease, have it checked out by an independent mechanic and buying one of those vehicles could be a real, real steal for you. look for vehicles that have between 36 and 45,000 miles on them and two, three or four years of ownership. next on "clark howard." >> how much credit card debt are you carrying at this point? >> would it be bad if i told you i really didn't know? >> that would be really bad.

it's time for "on the street" or today should i say "on the water." natasha curry thrks has an aquatic theme today. >> at the georgia aquarium, a bunch of fish here. it has a bunch of aquatic life

in the world. >> a lot of us spend a lot of time swimming with financial sharks. that's my job to be the anecdote. >> yes. thank goodness you're here to save us. we've got over here my buddy lindsey with a question over here. >> hi, lindsey. >> how are you? >> great. what's going on? >> i was wondering if you had any suggestions about a quick way of how to get out of debt and fix your credit score. >> okay. first tell me what kind of debts you have? >> well, i have some credit cards. those are evil. >> yes, they are. i'm sorry to ask you something this personal. but how much credit card debt are you carrying at this point? >> would it be bad if i told you i really didn't know? >> that would be really bad. okay. let me tell you your assignment after you finish looking at the fish. your job when you get home is i want you to add up all your credit card bills, figure out

the grand total of how much debt. if you have debt on credit cards that exceeds 50% of what you make in a year, you've got a real problem because then it's really hard to get past just paying minimums. on the other hand, if you find, hey, i got this annoying credit card debt, it's maybe 10% of what you make in a year or 25%, what you do is come up with a plan where you figure out, based on the interest rates, how much you'll have to pay per month to pay that credit card debt off in 30 months. >> okay. >> i find most of us, if we can see our way clear of something in two or three years, that we feel like we have control and, in fact, pretty quickly you'll get control and you've just got to stick to the plan of paying that amount of money per month. >> the amount of credit card debt that's reasonable for someone to carry is how much,

lindsey? how much credit card debt is reasonable? >> none. >> that is the right answer! that's the first thing you need to know for you to get healthy with how you handle debt in your life. >> okay. >> if you have credit card debt that exceeds 50% of your income, you're going to need so help to get that tackled. the place i like for you to look towards is the national foundation for credit counseling. you can learn about them at nfcc.org. >> okay. >> good luck to you. >> thank you. >> you're going to do your homework, right? >> i promise. i promise. >> lindsey, thank you so much for your question. go tackle that debt. natasha, thank you so much for being with me today for "on the street." justice is with us. how are you today? >> good, thank you. how are you? >> wonderful. what's going on in your life?

>> caller: i've been a homemaker for the last seven to eight years. there's a business for sale, a divorce sale. it's one of those popular little stores that you go in and buy everything for $1.00 or 99 cents. >> popular if you like those. i do. >> so do i. the issue i have, i don't know how about getting a loan. i can tell you our finances. we have $20 in cash. i can sell my van tomorrow for about 12 or 13. we have an offer for that. and we have about $10 in savings bonds. >> all right. what is the purchase price they're trying to sell the business for? >> caller: they're selling it for 95. that includes the shelves and the storage and the fixtures and the inventory is not included in that price that's an additional $30,000. >> ooh. the thing is you don't have enough cash to pay them

$125,000. >> caller: no. i do not. >> normally, if you were to buy a business in a circumstance like this, you're not going to be able to easily go out and get a loan in this environment. if you don't know if the business is profitable or not. the thing is, buying this business should be completely based on whether or not -- not that you and i like shopping in one, but that it's located well, that the business has a positive cash flow already, that you're buying an ongoing successful business. they are selling you the business for what they claim their fixtures and improvements are worth, their shelving and what the inventory is worth. they're telling me that the business is not an ongoing profitable business. >> caller: okay. >> otherwise, they would be selling you the business at a markup based on the profitability of it. >> caller: okay. >> i think you've got a lot more digging to do before you would get involved in something like this.

do you have a teenager or a tween and you don't know what to do act the cell phone, texting kind of thing? a lot of parents punt on this one and do the add-a-phone. bad idea. add-a-phone is really add a surprise when the bill comes in and who knows what overage you're going to have. there is an alternative i want to tell you about, a september special from kajeet, a company that devoted itself to offering family friendly cell phone plans for teens and tweens where you can track the movement of your teen or tween. they're offering a special for $19 a month, includes unlimited texting and 150 cell phone minutes a month. overages are a dime a minute. but if you don't have overages, you can shut them off at 150.

next on "clark howard" -- >> you know you are a genius, don't you? >> caller: no, i don't. >> the price competition for travel to australia is the strongest it's been in maybe 15 or 20 years. 

today on the clark howard show, you'll learn how to stay out of harm's way of identity theft. that's one way to learn how to fat ten your wallet. you give me this next half hour, i'm show you how to be your own boss. ever since i can remember, i've been fascinated by money. making it, saving it, studying it. by the time i was 31, i had earned enough to retire. so i embarked on a new mission, helping you take care of your money, so you can save more, spend less and avoid getting ripped off. >> now from his radio studio, your money expert, clark howard.

i'm not from the fbi, but i'm here to help you. there is a new warning from the fbi about a hot, hot scam working where you get an e-mail that pretends to be either from the fbi or the department of homeland security with a claim there's information you might be interested in. what kind of information? there are several versions. one of them says it's a confidential fbi report on new patterns in al qaeda financing. another one says weapons of mass destruction direct rat. gives you an example of what kind of things are floating out there and what happens if you open one of these e-mails? will you end up loading viruss on your computer? what are the criminals going to do with that? they're going to try to take over your bank accounts. they'll have access to all your passwords and all the rest. these are known as trojan and key logger programs. the key thing for you to know is the fbi isn't sending these.

you've got to be smart about any e-mail you receive and ever opening any attachment. now, how can i help you stay out of harm's way? what's your question for me? erin is with us. erin, hi. how are you? >> caller: hey. i'm hoping you can help me keep my sanity, clark, and then i'll be okay. >> tell me how i can be of service. >> caller: my husband and i are one of those unfortunate people that are upside down on their home now. and through listening to your show and advice through friends, we learned earlier in the year about possibly re-fi'ing through our mortgage company or doing a loan modification through our mortgage company. so in april we started a process with our then mortgage company, we got approved, and two days later, a new mortgage company called and said, we bought your loan. we thought, okay, it's coincidence. so we started the process over,

faxed in all the 60 pages of paperwork. we got approved and literally the next day, the mortgage company called and said, we can't continue with the loan modification even though you've been approved because we're selling your loan as of november 1st. >> are you fannie or freddie? behind the scenes is your loan owned by fannie mae or freddie mac? >> caller: no, sir. >> so your loan as a modification is done or a refi is done, it's up to the individual bank, not fannie or freddie, to say whether they'll do it or not, and amazingly twice -- this is an amazing story you're telling me -- twice you've been approved and each time the rug gets pulled out from under you. >> caller: yes, sir. >> here's what you do. i want to you go to the website nfcc.org. let me repeat that. nfcc.org.

you're going to put in your zip code and then it will take you to the closest national foundation for credit counseling office, where you will be able to make an appointment with a housing counselor. and with their help, hopefully you'll be able to get this thing moving for you and your family so that you can keep your home. steve, you are headed to retirement. congratulations to you! >> caller: well, i had things go right, clark. i appreciate that. i'm just laying it out right now. i guess my question is, i've been -- let me back up. i don't know if it's once a year or twice a year, you know, the social security sends you a statement saying you have so many credits based on -- shows your income over the years and shows if you retire at 62, it's approximately this or at 65, full retirement.

first of all, i was wondering if you have any idea how accurate those numbers are. >> very. >> caller: okay. >> those are very accurate, because especially as you get close to retirement, they are almost right on the money. >> caller: that's good. i'm pleasantly surprised. >> so that's not something to worry about. by the way, your social security check is going to be fine if you're getting close to that stage. >> caller: in february i turn 62. >> you're going to be fine. >> caller: the trick is trying to figure out, of that check, if i keep working versus if i take something part time. my wife works part-time, i could get by on part-time -- >> do it. >> caller: but i'm just trying to figure out -- >> do it. sometimes i talk in absolutes and sometimes i hem and haw. i will tell you that you will smile so long through your retirement years if you defer taking that social security

check at 62, keep working part-time, build up more credit, and then ultimately take your social security benefit. you're perfectly capable of working now. it will generate a much larger check from social security the longer you wait to take it, and you will have earned money when you're capable rather than what happens to so many people that get older and they won't be able to work but they need the money. >> next on clark howard -- >> caller: when i logged in, the website asked for my bank name first, my routing number, and then my user i.d. and password to my bank account. and that's where i immediately stopped. >> if she knows about the money and she turns out not to be responsible -- >> caller: i hope not. >> -- you can't keep her from taking the money and blowing it. so kind of keep it quiet this money is there.

do you have a question for me? it's so easy to ask a question. just go to cnn.com/clarkhoward and post your online video question for me. if you do so, you could be right here with me on "money coach" where you get to ask me your question about your wallet. we're going to meet somebody right now who has a question for me about whether or not something i've talked about is really safe to do. it's time to meet tasha. >> hi, i'm tasha and i need a

money coach. i want help doing a budget, because i want to know where money is going. there's not any extra, and if we do need extra, it's put on a credit card. and that's what i'm trying to get away from. i heard about mint.com either on the clark howard show or in the paper. mint.com is a site you can go to prepare a personal budget. of course, you log in, use your i.d. and when i logged in, it asked for my bank name, my routing number and then it asked for my user i.d. and password to my bank account. that's where i immediately stopped and said, i can't do this. is mint.com a safe website to use when preparing a personal budget? >> tasha, you're on to something.

i use mint.com, but there is a risk because you are coughing up your passwords. if you read their security briefing, they'll tell you all the things they do to try to make your information safe. but nowhere there does it say if they have a breach that they're going to cough up your dough if there is a problem. but they do, in fact, give you alerts that let you know later, hey, there is a big transaction going on in your account. is this okay? so that you are able, over time, to monitor what's going on. and speaking of monitoring, for you, if you were trying to track your dough, i want you to know i love mint.com. i love their competitor wesabi.com because with these sites, you can track all your income, all your outgoing, all your assets so you're able to see where you can trim expenses, where you need to beef up your savings and your retirement dough. >> collette is with us. i want to welcome you.

how are you doing? >> caller: fine. thank you, clark. thanks so much for taking my call. >> yes, ma'am. how can i be of service? >> caller: yes, please. i was calling to get advice from you. my 9-year-old daughter had an accident in 2006. >> oh, is she okay? >> caller: yes, she is. thank you. we just had a court settlement and just wanted to ask the best way to save this money for her. >> did the court specify a purpose for the money for your daughter? >> caller: no. it's just that it has to be for her. >> and how old is she now? >> caller: she's 9. >> 9. what would you like the purpose of this money to be? >> caller: to save it for her in an account to use it for school or maybe later in life for her first home or something like that. >> so pretty far down the road. >> caller: yes. >> and the total amount after taxes?

>> caller: it's 17,250. >> most often what happens when someone gets a settlement like this, the lawyer who negotiated it for you will try to hook you up with an insurance person, who would then sell an annuity for your daughter. and what i prefer instead is that because your daughter is only 9 and the goal is longer term in nature is that you look at putting the money into a mutual fund for your daughter. in her case, there is one in particular that i would like you to look at that is what's known as a tax-managed portfolio. what that will do is put this money into a mix of stocks and bonds, and there will be no tax that she will owe in the years up till the point that she's an adult, and only at the time that

she would sell would she owe tax, but the way it's set up, the tax that she would owe is tiny, tiny, tiny, if any, at the time she would need access to the money. >> caller: okay. >> next on clark howard -- >> caller: we're looking at these self-directed iras that supposedly you can put real estate in them. >> that is something that just freaks me out. >> that is such a smart way to handle car buying, because it means you will never owe more on the car than what it's worth. and it means you will own it free and clear without any monthly payment for years and years and years.

ed is with us. ed, how are you? >> caller: good afternoon. very well. and you? >> wonderful, thank you. >> caller: i need advice on an area that is very confusing, and that is self-directed iras. my wife and i have accumulated a little bit of money in regular iras, not roths. we've had them in cds, and as you know, they're not paying much right now.

>> the money in the iras, is it money you'll need in the next few years, next ten years, next 20 or never? >> caller: we want to live off the iras. >> starting how soon? >> caller: we're starting to eat into the principle right now because of the low interest rate. we're looking at these self-directed iras that you can supposedly put real estate in them. >> that is something that just freaks me out. >> caller: they are scary. >> what are you thinking of doing in terms of real estate? are you thinking of owning real estate inside that ira? >> caller: yeah, buying a condo in a resort area that you can rent out. >> owning an investment property inside an ira really costs you in so many ways, because real estate is best owned in a

taxable way, because there are so many tax advantages to owning it. you know, in an ira -- and if you have somebody handle the self-directed aspect of you actually owning actively managed real estate in one, you pay a lot of fees for that. i mean, there is a way for you to diversify into real estate without having to actually own and manage, and that is in your self-directed ira, you can own a real estate mutual fund. if you look at the tax advantages to owning that as a taxable asset, you won't consider any further at all owning that inside an ira. andr how are you? >> caller: very good, clark. odha is with us. how are you? >> wonderful. >> caller: thank you for taking my call. i love your show. >> thank you very much. >> caller: i do have a question. my husband and i are looking at

buying a new car, and the manufacturer has incentives going on right now. either you get cash back or you get 0% for 36 months. i'm trying to hear from you what is the better way to go. >> well, there is no one right answer on that because if you were to get the 0% financing versus what you might be able to get at a credit union -- are you a credit union member? >> caller: i'm not. but i got preapproved for a loan under 4%. >> you're already in the right territory. if you compare, and you have to run the numbers on this, you do an amortization schedule where you figure out which is actually going to be the cheaper for you. some of the easiest calculators, you'll find some available for cars on edmonds.com, and then

you'll be able to see exactly which of the two alternatives would be cheaper. normally on a short loan cycle like that, with you getting such a cheap, cheap rate from whatever lending source you found at the under 4%, you'll usually do better taking the $2,000 off and taking out the low-cost loan. and did you know you're a genius. >> caller: i am? >> yes. >> caller: how? >> for taking out a three-year loan. >> caller: oh, thank you. >> if you went back 40 years ago, the only loans people ever took out were three-year car loans. and we've gotten away from that. but that is such a smart way to handle car buying, because it means that you will never owe more on the car than what it's worth. and it means you will own it free and clear without any monthly payment for years and years and years. good for you.

i've had so many calls from people who are just absolutely fit to be tied by the notices they're getting from their credit card companies. credit card companies are racing new legislation that takes full effect in february of next year that restricts when a credit card company can raise interest rates on you and when they can change terms and conditions on you as well. now they have to give you longer notices, that's already happening. what kind of things are credit card companies doing in advance? well, number one, they're switching how your interest rate is calculated on your credit card, moving from fixed rate offerings to variable rates. why is that significant to you? well, here's the deal. the rate that the variables work off of is something known as the prime rate. prime rate is extra low right now. when the prime rate rises, your interest rate will rise on your credit card as well. how do you fight back against the changing interest rate? pay off your balances!

then they can't charge you. next on "clark howard" -- >> even if it means you have to delay finishing school for a while until you saved up money, pay with cash. do not, under any conditions, take out private student loans, because they are the most miserable experience.

two massive explosions at the center of baghdad. scores were injured, hundreds wounded. and authorities try to figure out who killed somer thompson. and how somer's family is asking the public to remember the little girl. this might look like the end of a car chase, but it was too real for a deputy. how the car ended up in this position. hey, there. this is hln news and views. i'm virginia chaw. two suicide bombs ripped through baghdad in the deadliest attack

against iraqi civilians this year. at least 132 people were killed this year, more than 500 wounded. the bombs went off in quick succession outside two government buildings, one was where the u.s. ambassador to the united nations briefly stopped yesterday. both iraqi and u.s. officials are warning of a possible increase in violence as the country moves toward national elections scheduled for january. another u.s. service member was killed in a bombing in southern afghanistan yesterday. the military has not yet identified that service member. at least 34 members of the u.s. military have been killed there this month. this year has been the deadliest for u.s. forces in afghanistan since the war began eight years ago. hundreds of people are being forced to evacuate the santa cruz mountains near watsonville, california, because of a wildfire that started at 3:00 a.m. and it already burned 600 acres by midmorning. more than 200 firefighters are battling the fire. officials are trying to determine what caused it.

the fire is not far from where another wildfire destroyed 289 homes last year. 29 homes last year. happening today, a massive landslide has shut down i-40 near the tennessee/north carolina border. some of the rocks that fell were the size of a house. since early this morning, traffic had to be detoured around the falling rocks. the section of i-40 woundlythe very rugid terrain and it is expected to be closed for several weeks. the rocks are said to be piled up 50 feet high. the slide itself is about 100 feet long. one woman suffered minor injuries when her jeep was hit by a falling rock. the senate's top republican says the gop is ready to do its part to fight the swine flu. appearing on "abc's this week" mitch mcconnell says congress is standing behind the president's efforts. >> if they need anything additional from congress, know we'll be happy to provide it on a totally bipartisan basis. >> on friday president obama declared a national swine flu emergency. he was quick to point out,

though, this is not a response to any new developments. ed gives the federal government more power to help states and he said declaring a national emergency frees up doctors by reducing the paperwork they have to deal with and that should reduce delays in treatment. even before president obama declared a national emergency there were long lines across the country as people lined up for the h1n1 vaccine. take a look, this was the scene outside a health department in salt lake city, utah. demand was so great that people began lining up overnight friday. eventually, workers had to turn people away because the clinic ran out. in tulari, california, the problem was the reverse. not enough people for the vaccine they had. lines were long when the health clinic in visalia opened up, but before the clinic was done, they tried to flag down people for the free vaccine. people who were vaccinated are glad they did it. >> it didn't feel that bad.

it is just like how my medicine is when they spray it. >> i believe in vaccinations and i think that this is especially one that i don't want to take the small risk of her getting the h1n1 and being one of the kids with the severe complications. >> i feel confident and so does the cdc that this is a safe vaccine that is effective. this is the best tool to prevent this infection, so i really encourage people to get the vaccine. >> the clinic says even though it didn't use even half the vaccine it has, it is slated to get another shipment. environmental officials are keeping the close eye on the air with toxic smoke spewing out of this site. authorities say anyone with breathing problems should get out of the area immediately. five tanks are still burning from friday's blast which forced 1500 people to evacuate. only a few people were hurt in that explosion. the fbi and atf are treating

this as a crime scene while they try to determine what caused the blast. they are looking at suspicious graffiti found on tunnels near the facility that included the words fire and boom. check out this video sent to us from ireporter alex encarnation. he says the other passengers on the flight got rattled as the flight got close to the flames, but he kept hiss cool to shoot this footage. if you have pictures of breaking news or cool stories from your part of the world, go to:.com/iworld and click on the up load now link. nearly 21 years after the lockerbie airplane bombing investigators are looking at new lines of inquiry. pan-am flight 103 was blown up over scotland in 1988 killing

270 people. the sunday telegraph reports scottish prosecutors recently sent and e-mail to victims saying the case is being looked at again. the lockerbie bomber was sent back to libya on compassionate release after being diagnosed with terminal cancer. the british foreign secretary says the case was never closed and if there's reason to pursue new evidence, the steps should be taken. a viewer of our sister network cnn has helped solve the mystery of a young woman who was found wandering the streets of new york saying she has no memory who she is. police are not releasing her name at the moment but her family is on the way from washington state to be reunited with her. now, the cnn viewer from maryland identified her from this photo. police say the viewer knew she was missing from her family since the beginning of this month. more than 1,000 tips have come into florida authorities trying to figure out who killed 7-year-old somer thompson. they say they are following every workable lead in this case. her body was found in a landfill

after she vanished while walking home from school last monday. authorities say even if people in the community don't have leads, there are still things they can do to support the family. >> the family is encouraging everyone to come with purple balloons after the service at orange park first baptist when the mother of somer and her family leave the service and head to the cemetery. we are going to orchestrate a balloon release. if there are members of the community who are planning on coming to the church and attending the service, if you would like to come with a purple balloon in hand, there will be volunteers at the church who are going to hold those for you during the service and then help coordinate a balloon release when the family leaves the church in memory of somer. >> two events are planned for today to help raise money for somer's family and for a reward fund. tonight on hln "news and views" nancy grace takes a

closer look at what's going on with missing florida girl haley cummings family. misty crossland finally returns from vacation. tensions between her and haley's dad are heating up. will pressure from police get misty to tell all about the night the little florida girl vanished from her own home? when nanny grace has the latest developments at 8:00 and 10:00 p.m. here on hln. authorities in california accomplished a small mission despite small numbers. where they were that led to this brawl.

a scuffle broke out when 20 neo nazis were met by 20 counter demonstrators in riverside, california. punches began flying with members of the hispanic activist group that broke down police barriers and rushed the neo

nazis. >> you brought this on yourself. this is what you wanted. this is what you get. >> they are the antagonists. they don't belong here. we wanted to demonstrate peacefully in america and you you can see what the result is. >> the racists. this is our community. this is america. >> riot police quickly broke things up. at least two of the counter demonstrators were arrested. the scuffle was brief. both groups hurled insults and slurs for three hours. this all happened at a well-known gathering place for day laborers. many of them immigrants. the neonazi group says they met their goal of shutting down the site and that they will be back. police in sacramento, california, say they can help protect children just by knocking on doors. scores of officers set out yesterday to check in with more than 1,000 registered sex offenders. they ended up beating their goal by 600. they arrested two dozen offenders that were not in compliance with the terms of their registration. >> sex offenders can wreak havoc

with the lives of people if they reoffend. >> each one is on an individual basis. prior to us getting up there and knocking on the door, we just look at their history and find out what they are about and get a light background before we go up and knock on the door. >> police say they wanted to be proactive to avoid cases like jaycee dugard. she was found 18 years after her abduction. police say she was held captive by registered sex offender, philip garrido. the lawyer of a man accused of staging a hoax by claiming his son was trapped in a runaway balloon says he is upset with investigators. richard heene's attorney says they should not have released an affidavit that says his wife says it was preplanned. he said, the heenes haven't seen the affidavit which was used to get a search warrant for their home, but the sheriff says releasing that kind of document is common if there is no order to keep it sealed. senior white house officials say they were closely monitoring that passenger plane that missed the airport by 150 miles.

but, they are not saying if president obama was alerted at the time. that wayward northwest airlines jet with 144 passengers flew past its minneapolis destination and was out of touch with air traffic controllers for more than an hour. passengers had no idea what was going on. the faa is investigating. meantime, the co-pilot told an affiliate that he and the pilot did not fall asleep nor did they get into an argument that distracted them. investigators won't get much help from the cockpit recorder because it is an older model that only records 30 minutes of discussion at a time. it only has the last 30 minutes when the pilots realized they had overshot minneapolis. florida was the place to be to get some real steals on valuable jewelry, even diamonds. 40,000 items from unclaimed safe deposit boxes were auctioned off yesterday. >> these are early notes, some are fractional notes from the civil war, several confederate

bills. i save these items for my grandsons for when they get older and they want to go to college. maybe this will be a good investment in their college education. i was expecting to pay more. i figured this would go from over $2000 but i got it to $1200. >> it also included a 13-car wrath diamond ring. don't worry if you missed out. the auction of unclaimed i ems is an an newel event. a 32-year-old los angeles woman out puzzled hundreds of people claim the u.s. sudoku championship. she solved it less than 8:00 to claim the title in philadelphia yesterday. mccleod won $10,000 around a spot on the u.s. world sudoku championship team. it will be held next spring in philadelphia.

how this all happened coming up.

senate democrats could be getting close to the 60 votes they need to advance health care that includes a public option. many democrats favor middle ground proposal that allows states to opt out if they don't want to participate. colleague senator sharon brown says he thinks such a measure is what the country wants and needs. >> i've gotten a lot of pressure from progressives saying, draw a line in the sand. i don't want to do that. i want to get the best bill possible. the public wants a public option. 70% of physicians according to robert wood johnson foundation want a public option. at least 52 or 53 or 54 democratic senators say they want a strong public option according to tom harkin. the chairman of the committee. i think that's the best thing for our country.

>> but another democrat senator bill nelson says he's against the public option, even if the states can opt out. >> i am certainly not excited about a public option where states would opt out or a robust, as they call it, robust government run insurance plan. i will take a look at the one where states could opt in if they make the decision themselves. i'm, i'm a jeffer sewn an democrat. i think the states can make decisions on their own about their own citizens. utah republican, orrin hatch, says the government's current problems with medicare and medicaid, prove a public option won't work. >> we know that medicare, for instance, was enacted in 1965. it's a public option. today, it is $38 trillion in unfunded liability. medicaid is going broke within the next ten years. we know that if the democrats get 60 votes in the senate, we are going to have a public option. it may not be called that. they may call it an opt out. i guarantee you, the process will go there.

why? because they are going to have to in bill that they are going to cover people 133% of the poverty level. that's, like i say, that's 33% above new york's current expenditure. it's almost double what our expenditure is in utah. if that happens, the states can't live with it. you are going to have a fiasco on your hands. >> lawmakers are expected to vote on a health care measure early next month. ermts here's. here's one of those what in the world videos. a deputy's car got caught up. police say the deputy's car was hit by another car while racing to answer a call. the snapped power lines started a grass fire under the car. the good news the deputy was able to get out. nobody was hurt. we could be on the verge of finding out more about iran's

nuclear program. they are set to inspect an unfinished uranium enrichment facility. the country has one other enrichment facility. many countries in the west including the u.s. suspect iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons. they say it is more suspicious that iran kept this new facility under wraps for so long, but iran insists their nuclear program is peaceful and will be used to generate power. for years the nuclear industry has tried to brand itself as good for the environment. well, now senate democrats are using that as a bargaining chip as they try to get republican votes to pass climate legislation. this week three senate committees will begin hearings on legislation to sharply cut greenhouse gas emissions by factories and businesses. some republicans may come onboard if the democrats agree to back measure that is would support building new nuclear reactors. the nuclear plants provide 1/5 of the country's nuclear energy,

but opponents say they are a tempting look for terrorists and there's no solution on what to do with the radioactive waste. composer andrew lloyd webbe weber is battling prostate cancer. he is undergoing treatment. the sequel to "phantom of the opera," "love never dies" is set to open in london in march. he is also known for "cats" and "jesus christ superstar." singer, morrissey collapsed on stage last night. medical officials say he's much improved but haven't said what has happened to him. he was a front man from the 1980s band "the smiths." rod stewart's fans say he was a rocker, but hear what he says is the secret to his success.

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tips pouring in from around the country as authorities try to figure out who killed 7-year-old somer thompson. how many leads they are getting and how somer's family is asking the public to remember their little girl. this might look like the end of a movie car chase. it was all too real for one deputy. how the patrol car ended up in this precarious position. >> hey, there. thanks for having us over. i'm virginia cha. two huge suicide bombs ripped through baghdad today in

the deadliest attack against iraqi civilian this is year. at least 132 people were killed. more than 500 wounded. the bombs went off in quick succession outside two government buildings, one was the iraqi justice ministry where the u.s. ambassador to the units nationed briefly stopped yesterday. the u.s. officials are warning of a possible increase in violence as the country moves to national elections scheduled for january. another u.s. service member was killed in a bombing in southern afghanistan yesterday. the military has not yet identified that service member. at least 34 members of the u.s. military have been killed there this month. this year has been the deadliest for u.s. forces in afghanistan since the war began eight years ago. hundreds of people are being forced to evacuate the santa cruz mountains in california because of a wildfire. it has burned 600 acres by midmorning. more than 200 firefighters are battling this fire. officials are trying to determine what caused it.

the fire is not far from where another wildfire destroyed 29 homes last year. happening today, a massive landslide has shut down i-40 near the tennessee, north carolina border. troopers say some of the rocks that fell were the size of a house. since early this morning, traffic had to be detoured around the falling rocks. it is expected to remain closed for at least several weeks. the rocks are piled up 50-feet high. the slide itself is 100 feet long. one woman did suffer minor injuries when her jeep was hit by a falling rock. the senate's top republican says the gop is ready to do it's part to fight the swine flu. appearing on abc's "this week" mitch mcconnell says congress is standing behind the president's efforts. >> if they need anything additionally from congress, i know we'll be happy to provide it on a totally bipartisan basis. >> on friday, president obama declared a national swine flu emergency. he was quick to point out that

this is not a response to any new developments. he says it gives the federal government more power to help states. he also said declaring a national emergency helps free up doctors by reducing the paperwork they have to deal with. that should reduce delays in treatment. even before president obama declared a national emergency, there were long lines from across the country as people lined up for the h1n1 vaccine. take a look. this was a scene outside a health department in salt lake city, utah, yesterday. demand was so great that people began lining up overnight friday. eventually, workers had to turn people away because the clinic ran out. in california, the problem was the reverse, not enough people for the vaccine they had. lines were long when the health clinic in visalia opened yesterday. before it was done, they were standing on the sidewalk trying to flag down drivers for free vaccine. the people who were vaccinated said they were glad they did it. >> it didn't feel that bad, just

like how my medicine is when they spray it. >> i believe in vaccinations. i think this is especially one that i don't want to take the small risk of her getting the h1n1 and being one of those kids that has the severe complications. >> i feel confident and so does the cdc this is a safe vaccine and it is effective. this is our best tool to prevent this infection. i really encourage people to get the vaccine. >> the clinic says even though it didn't use even half the vaccine it has, it is slated to get another shipment. >> environmental officials are keeping a close eye on the air around a fuel storage site that exploded in puerto rico. toxic smoke is spewing out of that site. the wind is keeping it away from populated areas, at least for now. anyone with breathing problems, authorities say, should get out of the area immediately. five tanks are still burning from friday's blast which forced 1,500 people to evacuate. only a few people were hurt in that explosion. the fbi and afr are treating the

facility as a crime scene while they try to determine what caused the blast. they are looking at suspicious graffiti found on tunnels that included the words fire and boom. check out this video sent to us from an i-reporter. his name is alex encarnation. he was flying into puerto rico from dallas and shot this from the air. he says the other passengers got a little rattled as they got close enough to the flames, but he managed to keep his cool enough to shoot this amazing footage. if you have pictures or video of breaking news or just cool stories from your part of the world, go to cnn i-report.com and click on the upload link. you will find complete instructions on how to submit your stories. nearly 21 years after the lockerbie airplane bombing, they are looking at new lines of i quirery. pan-am flight 103 was blown up

in december, 1988, killing 270 people. scottish prosecutors recently sent an e-mail to relatives. the only man convicted in the attack was freed in august, sent back to libya after being diagnosed with terminal cancer. the british foreign secretary says the case was never formally closed and that if there's reason to pursue new evidence, those steps should be taken. a viewer of our sister network, cnn, has helped solve the mystery of a young woman found wondering the streets of new york saying she has no memory of who she is. police are not releasing her moment name at this moment, but her family is on the way from washington state to be reunited with her. the cnn viewer from maryland identified her from this photo and knew she had been missing from her family since the beginning of this month. more than 1,000 tips have come in to florida authorities who are trying to figure out who killed 7-year-old somer thompson. they say they are following every workable lead in this case. her body was found in a landfill after she vanished while walking home from school.

authorities say, even if people in the community don't have any leads, there are still things they can do to support the family. the family is encouraging everyone to come with purple balloons. after the service at orange park first baptist, when the mother of somer and her family leave the service and head to the cemetery, we are going to orchestrate a balloon release. if there are members of the community who are planning on coming to the church and attending the service, if you would like to come with a purple balloon in hand, there will be volunteers at the church who are going to hold those for you during the service and then help coordinate a balloon release. when the family leaves the church, in memory of somer. >> two events are planned for today to help raise money for somer's family and for a reward fund. tonight on nancy grace she takes

a closer look at what's going on with missing florida girl haleigh cummings family. misty crossland finally returns from vacation and tensions between her and haleigh's dad ron are said to be heating up. will pressure from police plus intense scrutiny get misty to tell all about the night the little florida girl vanished from her own home? nancy grace has the latest developments at 8:00 and 10:00 p.m. eastern time here on hln. neo nazis in california accomplished a big mission despite small numbers where they were and what they are doing that led to this brawl.

as you can see, a scuffle broke out when 20 neonazis were met by 600 counter demonstrators in riverside, california. punches began flying when members of a hispanic activist group broke down police barriers and rushed the neonazis.

>> you guys brought this to yourselves. this is what you guys wanted. this is what you get. >> they are the antagonists. >> is this what you wanted? >> we wanted to demonstrate peacefully in america and you can see what the result is. >> racists. this is our community. this is america. >> riot police quickly broke things up and at least two of the counter demonstrators were arrested. the scuffle was brief, but both groups hurled insults and slurs, apparently, for three hours. this all happened at a gathering place for day laborers, many of them immigrants. the neonazi group says they met their goal of shutting down the site and they will be back. police in sacramento, california, say they can help protect children just by knocking on doors. scores of officers set out to check in with more than 1,000 registered sex offenders. they ended up beating their goal by 600 and they arrested two dozen offenders who were not in compliance with the terms of their registration. >> sex offenders potentially can wreak havoc with the lives of

people if they reoffend. >> each one is on an individual basis, so usually prior to us getting up there and knocking on the door, we just look at their history and find out what they are about and get a little background before we go up and knock on the door. >> police say they wanted to be proactive to avoid cases like jaycee dugard. she was found 18 years after her abduction. police say she was held captive by registered sex offender phillip garrido. the lawyer for the man accused of staging a hoax by claiming his son was trapped in a run away balloon says he is upset with investigators saying they should not have released an affidavit that says heene's wife confessed the whole thing was preplanned. it shouldn't have been made public until the arrest was made. he said the heenes haven't even seen the affidavit. the sheriff said releasing that kind of document is common if there is no order to keep it sealed. senior whose officials were closely monitoring the passenger

plane that missed the airport by 150 miles, but they are not saying if president obama was alerted at the time. that wayward northwestern airlines jet with 144 passengers flew fast its minneapolis destination and was out of touch with air traffic controllers for more than an hour. passengers said they had no idea what was going on. the faa is investigating. meantime, the co-pilot told an affiliate that he and the pilot did not fall asleep nor did they get into an argument that distracted them. investigators won't get much help from the cockpit recorder because it is an older model that only records 30 minutes of conversation at a time, that means it only has the last 30 minutes of the flight when the pilots already realized they had overshot minneapolis. florida was the place to be to get some real steals on some valuable jewelry, even diamonds. 40,000 items from unclaimed safe deposit boxes were auctioned off yesterday. >> these are early notes. some are fractional notes from

the civil war. there are several confederate bills. i saved these items for my grandsons when they get older and they want to go to college. maybe this will be a good investment in their college education. i was expected to pay more. i figured this would go for over $2,000. i got it for $1,200. >> the items also included a 13 carat diamond ring, a diamond and platinum watch and other fine jewelry. don't worry if you missed out. the auction of unclaimed items is an annual event. a woman outpuzzled many to become the winner of the national sudoku puzzle championship. she solved the was untilless than eight minutes. mccleod won $10,000 and a spot on the world champion sudoku team.

san francisco city college held a garage sale to try to save as many of their spring classes as possible. california's budget cuts cost them to cut 8,000 courses. each course costs the school about $6,000. how do you define a bad day? well, would it be something like this? a sheriff's deputy found himself in a very uncomfortable position and, oh, the fire didn't help. how this all happened coming up.

senate democrats could be getting close to the 60 votes they need to advance a health care bill including a public option. chuck schumer says many favor a middle program to allow states to opt out if they don't want to participate. sherrod brown thinks this is what the country wants and needs. >> i have gotten a lot of pressure from progressives saying, draw a line in the sand. i don't want to do that. i want to get the best bill possible. but i see that the public overwhelmingly wants a public option. 70% of physicians according to robert wood johnson foundation want a public option. at least 52 or 53 or 54 democratic senators say they want a strong public option. according to tom harkin, the chairman of the committee, i think that's the best thing for our country.

>> another democrat, senator bill nelson, says he is against a public option even if the states can opt out. >> i certainly am not excited about a public option where states would opt out or a robust as they call it, robust government run insurance plan. i'll take a look at the one where the states could opt out if they make a decision themselves. i think the states can make decisions on their own about their own citizens. utah republican, orrin hatch, says the government's current problems with medicare and medicaid prove a public option won't work. >> we know that medicare, for instance, from back in 1965, it's a public option. today it is $38 trillion in unfunded liability. medicaid is going broke within the next ten years. we know that if the democrats get 60 votes in the senate, we are going to have a public option. it may not be called that. they may call it an opt out. i guarantee you, the process will go there. why? because they are going to have

in this bill that they will cover people of 133% of the poverty level. that's, like i say, 33% above new york's current expenditure. it is almost double what our expenditure is in utah. if that happens, the states can't live with it. you are going to have a fiasco on your hands. >> lawmakers are expected to vote on a health care measure early next month. here's one of those what in the world videos. a deputy's car got caught up in dangling power lines after it knocked down a utility pole. now, it happened in pierce county, washington state. police who saw the accident said the deputy's car was hit by another car while racing to answer a call. the snapped power line started a grass fire, as you can see, under the car. the good news is the deputy was able to get out. no one was hurt. composer andrew lloyd weber is battling prostate cancer. a spokeswoman says the disease is in the early stages and that

weber is undergoing treatment. the 61-year-old is expected to be back at work before the end of the year. the sequel to his musical "phantom of the opera: lover never dies" is set we could be on the verge of finding out a lot more about iran's nuclear program. a team of united nations inspectors arrived in iran today. they're expected to inspect a uranium enrichment facility. the country has one other enrichment facility. that one near asfan. many countries in the west, including the u.s., says iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons. they say it's even more suspicious that iran kept this new facility under wraps for so long. iran insists the nuclear program is peaceful and will be used to generate power. for years, the nuclear industry has tried to brand itself as good for the environment. well, now, senate democrats are using that as a bargaining chip

as they try to get republican votes to pass climate legislation. this week three senate committees will begin hearings on legislation to sharpley cut greenhouse gas emissions by factories and businesses. so republicans may come on board if the democrats agree to back measures that would support building new nuclear reactors. nuclear plants currently provide about a fifth of the country's energy, but opponents of expanding the country's nuclear power grid say the reactors are a tempting target for terrorists, and there's still no solution for what to do with the radioactive waste. so some wanted to prove their ancestors came up with hummus. they made more than two tons in lebanon the other day and set a new world record. they wanted to show hummus is a leb flees dish. they accuse israel of stealing it and marketing it as israeli. the actual origin is not known. most of rod stewart's

longtime fans will always consider him a rocker. lately he's been tapping into his soulful side. hear a debut of his latest album.